The Resolve of One
by DragonScouter
Summary: A meeting forged by destiny, one human agrees to travel with one god to a new dimension to stop a war that has been going on for millennium. Through many trials they accomplished this. But, let's spin the clock back and see what happens...if one small detail was changed. A What If? story to The Power of One. Rated T because I am more paranoid than G1 Red Alert.
1. Prologue

**AN: I only own my OCs.**

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 **Authoress: *dark chuckles* Oh the fun I have planned with this. *darker chuckle and Random Blitzwing scary evil smirk***

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 **AN: I feel it is my obligation to warn each and every being who reads this that, just because you have might read The Power of One (the story that is being changed for this story to happen...which is pretty good and you should read that as well) does not mean that you will have any sort of idea what will happen in the chapters to come. This prologue is only a prologue because it is to show you just how little you will be able to predict in the future...and it will become even harder to predict as the chapters progress. So now...without further ado...let this new tale...begin!**

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Prologue

 _A meeting forged by destiny, one human agrees to travel with one god to a new dimension to stop a war that has been going on for millennium. Traveling to this world, the two befriend the Autobots of the dimension and live with them, while, at the same time, trying to forge peace between both Autobots and Decepticons. Through many trials, tribulations, and a transformation, they were able to accomplish this. Many years were spent in peace and harmony with everyone rebuilding their lost and forsaken world._

 _But, let's spin the clock back and discover what would have happened, if one small detail was changed._

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

My head...was killing me. Everything was so dark and I felt like I would be trapped and cold. But, just as I was thinking that, I heard something. There was a metal echo sounding in my hearing. What was that? I feel like Paul would have placed me somewhere safe and, while I couldn't see yet, I had a feeling that something hadn't gone right. I don't remember any of the first episodes having a cold place in them.

Well...that's not true. There were no human-friendly places in the beginning.

An adrenaline rush of excitement and dread filled me as I realized where I probably was. Slowly opening my eyes, I felt my heart stop when I saw that my suspicion was correct.

"Frag, this isn't good." I muttered as I glanced around the Nemesis. While I was ecstatic to be on the Nemesis, and not with the boring Autobots, I knew that there were quite a few things that would not make a stay here so great. First of all, there was no Knockout yet. He was not going to be coming in until a lot later. Secondly, Megatron was not here yet to control Starscream and I knew that Starscream was not very good with his control.

"A human? Here?"

I felt my entire body tense when I heard that voice. Oh no. That voice was from one of my most hated 'Cons in the entire series and I felt like I would have liked any other Decepticon behind me.

Turning around slowly, I felt my eyes widen when I saw Starscream behind me. Well, thanks a lot Primus. Really. You brought me here to help and, now, it looked like I was going to be dying in my first three seconds. You _really_ thought this out. "Uh..." I let out, unsure of exactly what to say.

He put his hands on his hips and tapped his pede impatiently before saying, "How did you get on this ship human?"

While I always laughed at Starscream when I watched the show...most of the shows, I felt pure fear as I stared up at him. Slag this was _not_ good. "Um...I don't know. I just woke up here." And that was true. I wasn't sure how Paul got me up on this ship and I was not quite sure where he was. I was going to kill him for this.

The robot chicken...yeah, that sounded like him, the robot chicken glared at me for the longest time before scowling and saying, "Like we needed pests on this ship." Then, before I realized what he was doing, he reached down and picked me up before walking back the way he came. Frag, this wasn't good. I had no idea where in the show I was exactly, though since Starscream seemed to be acting in charge, I was going to assume that we were somewhere in the first or second episode. What would maybe take place later would confirm what I thought.

But, back to my current predicament.

"Where are we going?"

When he glanced at me, I saw a brief flash of extreme annoyance in his optics and I feared for my continued breathing. But, my fear subsided slightly when that annoyance looked like it was replaced by a neutral one. "To the bridge."

I nodded at that and decided to keep my mouth quiet...for now. This was probably the absolutely best worst situation I could have found myself in. While it seemed to not make any sense...well, that would fit in with about everything that doesn't make any sense today. Primus asked me to come and help this universe only to have me captured by the Decepticons right off the bat. From what I had seen and read, the Autobots were going to be the more difficult to persuade. Yet, now I was stuck here. Primus, you really thought this through this time...didn't you?

When I heard the opening of doors, I looked up and realized that we were now on the bridge and, to my surprise, Cliffjumper was already there and restrained in the center. To the left, Soundwave was observing everything, though I did notice him tilt his helm slightly when he looked toward Starscream and me. "The energon…it's worthless to me now." Starscream growled and I could hear a bite of anger in his tone. Hopefully, that anger would not change to squeezing me to a pulp. I liked being solid and in one piece thank you very much.

"'Scream," Cliffjumper started to speak to Starscream as the drones turned him to face us. "it's been awhile…" Cliffjumper's optics went wide as he finally looked fully at us. "A human?!"

Starscream, as well as everyone else, stared at me before Starscream said, "Yes a human. I assumed you Autobots knew what they looked like, seeing as you are in contact with human governments."

In return, Cliffjumper growled at Starscream. "Let the girl go you coward. She has no part in this!"

I felt myself bracing when Cliffjumper yelled that at Starscream. While I seemed to already be changing things, thanks to Paul's major screw up, I wasn't sure if my psyche would survive watching Starscream kill Cliffjumper. I just wouldn't be able to take it.

"I would watch myself Autobot," Starscream stated as he walked around the injured Cliffjumper, keeping me in view the whole time. "Before I ran into this human youngling, I had every plan on coming in here and snuffing your pathetic Autobot spark from existence." Here it came. Every fiber of my being was screaming at me to close my eyes and not watch. But, for some odd reason, I couldn't. I felt like a moth heading to a flame. "However," Wait…huh? "I do not believe that it would be right to expose one so young, even an organic, to death this first servo. So, you will be released and, next time we meet, you won't be so lucky."

Shock was overpowering me and I couldn't make a sound, my mouth hanging slightly open, as the drones holding Cliffjumper moved to the doors. He was in pretty rough shape and I knew that he had seriously dodged a bullet. Even though Starscream was acting really strange, I wasn't quite ready to say that I trusted him yet. Not by a long shot. The only Starscream that I had ever liked in any of the shows that I watched was the one from the Armada verse…and this one _definitely_ was not that one. Of course, he was acting strange. It was so radically different from the Starscream I had watched on the Prime cartoon before. While he still had some of his original attitude, this one seemed almost caring.

I focused back on the world that was around me and saw that Cliffjumper was staring at me, shock in his optics, and I bet I looked similar to him. To help ease his worry, I sent him a quick small smile…hopefully it told him that I would be alright.

…even if I didn't believe that myself.

Once the bridge doors closed, effectively removing Cliffjumper from my sight, I glanced back up at the Decepticons surrounding me. I was so conflicted in my feelings that I was sure that I looked like a fish out of water being surrounded by them. On one hand, I had always been a fan of Soundwave and here he was. I was seeing him on my first day here in this dimension. On the other hand, the first bot I had seen was Starscream, admittedly one of my least favorite Cybertronians in the dimension, but he was acting so radically different than he did in the show that it was causing my head to go three sixty!

" _What is that doing here?"_ Soundwave asked Starscream using clips.

The seeker glanced down at me before looking at Soundwave. "This human says she does not remember how she arrived on our ship. You are responsible for watching her and if she tries to escape or causes you trouble, inform me immediately and I shall deal with her." I was then dumped into Soundwave's waiting spindly servo before Starscream walked out of the room.

So…did that make Soundwave my unofficial official guardian? Because even though I was scared like no other at this moment, that would be seriously amazing. I found myself only able to stare up in wonder at Soundwave as he moved out of the bridge and down one of the halls. Hell, for all I knew, he was going somewhere to kill me but I didn't care right now. Soundwave was my second favorite Cybertronian in this show, third overall, and I was in his servo!

But, it felt awkward just walking around in silence so I decided to try and have a conversation with him. "So…do you know what is going to be happening with me now?"

Soundwave stayed quiet for a few minutes before he responded to me. " _Responsible for watching her. You belong to me."_

I wasn't sure how to respond to that so I stared ahead and stayed quiet. Since Soundwave talked with clips I wasn't sure if he actually meant to use the word 'belong' like I was his property. I mean, sure, it was from the Phantom of the Opera and the phantom treated Christine like property but, who knows? Maybe that was the best clip that he could use to answer my question? It was kind of an abrupt question and that meant that he might not have had time to reply in a better way.

…At least that was what I was hoping for.

One thing that I definitely knew for sure was that I was going to be ripping Paul a new one when I got my hands on him. Seriously, he was supposed to be Primus and he had brought me into this world to help heal the rift between the Autobots and the Decepticons and yet I was stuck with the Decepticons where I would not be able to interfere with much of what was going on. This was going oh so well.

…Heavy sarcasm is a coping mechanism I understand.

Soon, Soundwave arrived in front of a door and tapped a passcode into the key pad. Unfortunately, I couldn't read what he pushed in so I wouldn't be able to use that later. But, that was alright. I was pretty sure that I was not going to be getting off this ship anytime soon if Soundwave had anything to say about it.

When the door opened and Soundwave walked inside, I quickly studied the room. To my surprise, it almost looked like there were two bots living in this room instead of Soundwave. One side of the room, the side with most of the monitors and the berth, was very tidy and could probably pass a military inspection. The other side of the room, however, looked like a bunch of college frat boys had gotten into glue and glitter and went nuts. That side of the room did not match up with what I knew of Soundwave. Maybe this was all just one big illusion.

That thought changed drastically as Soundwave set me down on the table that housed the many monitors that I was guessing he worked from when he wasn't on the bridge. "Ow…" I muttered as I rubbed my butt slightly. He needed to learn that humans couldn't be put down that hard. But, I was going to admit that it was a lot gentler than I thought that he would set me down. It was almost like he had practice setting down things that were around my height.

It wasn't long before Soundwave sat down at the chair in front of the monitors and started to work. Even though I thought that watching Soundwave going through all the monitors would be boring work to watch, I found myself scooting closer to the monitors to observe what was going on. From this view, the Decepticons on the other side looked just like the average extended family. They were laughing with each other, playing games, and I could see some of the drones helping others learn how to fight. This was nothing like what I would expect from the Decepticons…and I was even a fan of them.

I wasn't sure how long I watched Soundwave type away at the keyboards, moving from frame to frame to record and sort through all the data that was being delivered to him and deciding which of it should be kept for further look up and which stuff was barely important to be filed away somewhere else. When the monitors in front of me suddenly turned off, I found myself jumping in shock and looking up at Soundwave, who was in turn looking down at me. _"What do you think you are up to?"_ Soundwave asked, seemingly me.

In turn, I shrugged my shoulders and motioned toward the now darkened monitors. "I…I was curious about what you were doing and it seemed like it would be pretty interesting. Hearing everything that goes on here on this ship and seeing the day to day interactions of each one of your kind must be amazing. I'm kinda jealous actually."

Yeah, even though I was pretty positive on life and friendly with people who were friendly to me, I really only had that kind of relationship with my mom. When I was in high school, I did sports and would talk and be friendly with the people that did sports as well but, off the field, away from the court, I didn't have anyone. No friends to talk with, or listen to, or even hang out with for the most part. The one friend I had, I barely saw so I could barely call her my friend. We were more of the close acquaintances.

When it continued to stay quiet, I looked up and realized that Soundwave was seemingly staring at me. Why was he? Of course, a better question for myself would be why would I tell him that I was jealous of him? This wasn't like me at all. I tried to stay happy and make sure that everyone else was happy as well. No matter how much pain I was in, physical and mental, I usually made sure that I made everyone else happy first. But, just know I had let my own personal problems slip onto this mech who probably wouldn't care if I would fall off this desk now and break my neck.

Sure, I was a Decepticon fan in my world but I wasn't an idiot. The Decepticons were calculating and strong willed beings who had to measure the weight of what was presented before them with what was best for the Decepticons cause. Human worries like mine? Not so important.

Flinching was my first reaction as I felt something brush against my back. But, I was surprised when I saw one of Soundwave's tentacles come out from behind my back but, instead of giving me an explanation, Soundwave turned back on the monitors. I held myself back from flinching as he picked me up with the same tentacle before moving me in front of him and the monitor before setting me down so I was facing the monitors. What was he doing? I couldn't figure out exactly what was going on but I wasn't going to complain for now. Maybe later.

For a few hours, I sat and watched as Soundwave observed everything on the screens and I felt like my eyes were being opened for the first time about the Decepticons, and that was saying a lot since I was a Decepticon fan. The show in my dimension had to have something against the Decepticons because they were nothing like I had seen before. Starscream could clearly be seen interacting animatedly with the drones and they seemed to enjoy being in his company. He didn't seem like a cold, backstabbing, and calculating robot chicken like I was used to seeing. Actually he seemed almost…

Suddenly, I was flying through the air and it took my panicking mind a second to realize that it was just Soundwave moving me from the table with one of his tentacles. Now I also realized that I was going to have to probably get used to this happening. Thankfully I didn't get air sick. Then we might have a real problem on my hands.

To my surprise, Soundwave set me down on one of three human sized berths in the college frat boy looking area before his screen lit up. " _Remain in bed. Orders from Starscream. While I am away, make introductions. You have been patient enough."_

"Wai…what? What was that last part about?" I yelled after my temporary guardian. This was way too confusing right now. I understood that he wanted me to remain on the berth and that 'Scream must have sent him some sort of order, but I had no idea about what that last part could mean. To what was I supposed to be making these introductions to? Plus, what was I being patient for? Something really told me that part was not said to me.

But, if I was hoping to get an answer from my seemingly temporary guardian, then my hopes would have been dashed as Soundwave simply left the room and I heard a light click as the door locked. Great. As much fun as I was sure Soundwave was going to be as a guardian…if this arrangement lasted for any sort of length, I now realized that watching out for the quiet ones also could be used for what they were planning for a little human that they were guardian-ing…aka me, and I was now extremely nervous.

At first, the room stayed quiet and, as I sat on what I was assuming was going to be my berth, I wondered if maybe Soundwave was just trying to say that he would introduce me to others on the ship later.

"It's not acting like most of the female fleshbags in the movies we watch."

"Yeep!" I yelped as I turned to look in the direction that the voice seemed to be coming from. But, there wasn't anything there. Okay, now I was worried…was I going even more insane? I already knew that I was insane but this interaction was taking the cake by far. But, just to check, I figured I would ask the voices a question. I should get an answer as long as they weren't in my head. "Is there someone out there?"

For a second, it was quiet and I thought that maybe the panic of the day was finally getting to me. But, it seemed like life wasn't meant to be that way. "Of course we are here. You humans sure are idiots." A different voice answered me.

Even though the voice seemed vaguely familiar to me, I was not letting that last little bit slide. "Well I'm sorry that I don't come custom built with scanners that allow me to search for life forms in a room besides with basic vision. Maybe if you all would just come out here and let me see you, I would believe that I wasn't going completely insane. I am not an idiot and I definitely will not take to being called one." I held my glare in the general direction that both voices seemed to come from. I wasn't sure what was out there but I knew that I would rather face death then let some being get away with calling me an idiot about a situation that I couldn't control.

I was expecting the beings talking with me to come out of the shadows…maybe some sort of invisibility mod. But, I would deny to my dying day…and hopefully that would not be in the next few minutes…that I let out a very uncharacteristically girly shriek and scooted over the edge of the bed in fea…surprise, when two bots who were my sized jumped down from a support beam near the ceiling of the room.

The small blue bot with a red visor turned to the red and black one next to him. "Hey, this girlie seems like a lot of fun Rumble."

"I couldn't agree more Frenzy."

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

My fingers tapped against the city bench that I found myself sitting on. Irritation and worry were seemingly eating me alive. When I came to this dimension that I had sent Lizzie to, I had expected her to be exactly where I had sent her. However, when I did not receive a response from her on her cell phone, I grew concerned and had gone to the spill-way myself to check on her. Maybe she had been knocked unconscious by the trip. Prima had warned me that the trip might be jarring to the human body but I had felt like that sort of risk was relatively small.

Turns out, it was a small chance that did happen…but it wasn't what I was thinking. When I arrived at the spill-way, all I found was young Raf playing with his RC car…and no sign of Lizzie Val. My first thought was that there was a time delay and she might not actually appear in this dimension until the next day so I had taken the role of interacting with Rafael and being there with him and Jack as the Decepticon drones fought with Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Arcee. Afterwards, I had made my way to the house that I had intended both Lizzie and myself to stay in and had gone to bed. Maybe I could locate her in the time stream through her dreams if she was unconscious like one should be while travelling the way I sent her.

Unfortunately, I had been unable to communicate with her. That was more than worrying. Right now, I felt like I was on the edge of full blown panic. I had asked this human girl to give up everything that she knew to come to this universe to fix the mistakes that my children had made and she had done so quite willingly. But, now I could not find her and I feared that something was horribly wrong. Hopefully, I would be able to locate my lost employee before it was too late. There were already things in the show that needed to be changed and it had hurt my spark that I could not stop that event from happening.

That event? I had needed to make sure that the Autobot Cliffjumper survived from his battle with the drones over the energon and my original plan had been to send Lizzie there to cause Cliffjumper to be distracted and not get captured by the Decepticons. But, with Lizzie now missing in action that could not happen and the show had to continue on how it was deemed to be. My only hope for making sure that I didn't bring Lizzie Val here in vain was to find her so we could make the changes that needed to be made to save my children.

However, I was surprised that I had de-aged when I had arrived in this dimension. From my calculations, I would have had to wait until after a major change was made in the show before my human form showed the improvement that it now did. But, I was not going to argue. Thanks to the de-aging, I looked like I should be in my late twenties to early thirties instead of in my fifties. This would help me earn trust with the children easier since I was closer to their age. I would need their help with messing up the time stream until I could find Lizzie. Hopefully, that wouldn't take long but I did need a backup and they seemed like the most reliable next sources.

A motor sound cut through my thoughts and I looked up in surprise to see Bumblebee parked in front of me, his passenger door opened, and Raf in the back seat. Guess Bumblebee was my ride to the base. _"I need you to get in."_

"He says that he needs you to get in." Raf stated for me, not realizing that I needed a translator. It was probably a good idea to not let them know I could understand Bumblebee. Might raise up some unwanted questions later.

So, I nodded and sat in the passenger seat. Once I had my seatbelt buckled, Bumblebee went into drive and made his way out of Jasper and toward the base. Not long after we set off, Arcee showed up behind us with Miko and Jack on her seat. Well, looks like we were a group of four for now. Hopefully, I would be able to find Lizzie soon and this group of four could turn into the group of five that I had planned for it.

My mind focused on the present as we went through the hidden door in the rock face in front of us and entered a dark tunnel. Thankfully, we were not inside there too long. I glanced up as we entered the base and I took in the bots in the room. The first I saw was Ratchet and I couldn't tell if he was upset that we were here or if he was more annoyed that we existed…well, humans existed. I would exist anyway but that was beside the point. Right now I was in a human form so that would apply to me as well.

The sound of footsteps in front of us had me looking to see Bulkhead walking toward our group. I had to admit that I could see how he could come off as intimidating. But, I knew that he was really just a big teddy bear…that was made of metal…and was really good at fighting against other Cybertronians.

Finally, Bumblebee stopped and so I exited out of Bumblebee so the bot could transform. I ended up standing next to Raf as the four bots in the room congregated with each other. "I thought there were three?" Ratchet asked Arcee and Bumblebee as he stopped in front of us.

"Haven't you heard?" Arcee started while motioning to us. "Humans multiply." True, they very much did so. They did so a lot easier than Cybertronians that was for sure.

We all then started our introductions with Raf. "I'm Raf." He then waved at Ratchet.

Before anything could be said in response, Miko went right up to Bulkhead. "I'm Miko." And the poor bot only got a second of reprieve before her questions began. "Who are you?" She asked this to Bulkhead.

That was right! I forgot that she started them off easy. "Bulkhead." Bulkhead introduced himself. To me, he sounded a little unsure as to what exactly he was supposed to be doing.

"Are you a car? I bet you're a truck. A monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever use a wrecking ball for a punching bag?" And there were those questions that I was waiting for.

Everyone just stared at Miko for a moment and it was only thanks to Raf that the ball really got turning. "So, if you guys are robots, who made you?"

I winced at what was to come. That was definitely not the best route to take for this. "Puh-lease." Ratchet started.

However, before he could finish, the ground below us vibrated as the sound of pedesteps could be heard behind us. There was only one bot that could be and, as I turned, I found myself proud at how Optimus Prime had grown. He was the right choice to give the Matrix of leadership. It felt strange having to look up at Optimus as he spoke down to us. "We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Autobots."

Of course, that got me thinking. While I knew this introduction and had heard it hundreds of times, I just now realized that, if that was how Optimus introduced the Autobots, then how would you introduce a Decepticon?

"Why are you here?" Jack interrupted my thoughts before they could dive any further into that maelstrom of thought.

Thankfully, Optimus was quick with an answer. "To protect your planet…from the Decepticons."

While I knew what he was talking about, I realized that the kids might not know…and I wasn't supposed to know. Thankfully, Arcee had us covered. "The jokers who tried to bump us off last night." And who had just killed Cliffjumper.

Again, before my thoughts could dwell on that, and move any further, Jack spoke. "Okay…why are they here?" I had to give it to Jack. As much as I knew Lizzie disliked him…since he was one of her least favorite humans in her old stories, he knew how to ask a question.

"A fair question Jack." Optimus started to respond while coming down to our level. Miko and Raf moved closer as Optimus began to tell his tale. "In part, they are here because our planet is uninhabitable; ravaged by centuries of civil war." More like millennia but it was best to not overwhelm the kids.

Of course, Jack wasn't the only human who knew how to ask a question. "Why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked, the question innocent in itself but very complex for on side alone to explain honestly. Optimus knew how to do a fair job at it thought.

"Foremost, over control of our world's supply of energon…the fuel and lifeblood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike." Optimus began to answer.

Since I knew what he was going to say already, I decided to instead try and reach out to Lizzie. I felt for any trace of her that I could detect without alerting the Autobots that I was hiding something from them. I _had_ to find her if everything else that I was planning was going to come to fruition. However, I knew that, since I had yet to locate her, that this task was not going to be easy.

A sigh coming from Miko forced me to stop and pay attention to what was going on around me. "Is there going to be a quiz?" For Miko, that was a pretty reasonable question…even if it was rhetorical.

Thankfully, it didn't get answered and Jack asked a more reasonable question. "So, what is Megatron, or any of this, have to do with us?"

Optimus seemed to study Jack for a second before he answered. "Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time. But if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic."

Then, the kids went off to explore the base while I stayed with the bots. I was kind of thankful that they were gone now so I could get my thoughts focused. Optimus had a way of answering questions that would bring so much clarity. Fear of destruction will make any being understand why something is being done that they can't control. It brought me back to my thoughts on my MIA employee and I knew that finding her had to be my top priority while, at the same time, keeping up my disguise as your simple ordinary human.

…Which I almost blew as the base's comm system crackled to life before a voice came through that, honestly, should not be coming through. "Hey…base? I…I could use a pick up."

That…that was Cliffjumper! But…he was supposed to be offline. I wasn't able to get to him and Lizzie was still MIA. Could Lizzie have been near the blast and distracted Cliffjumper? Was that why I still couldn't get a hold of her? Massive influxes in volatile energon…like it exploding, could interfere with signals and make it difficult to track her down. Maybe Cliffjumper even had her?

Immediately, the ground bridge opened and I was surprised that Cliffjumper walked through in terrible shape. He must have been hit almost full force by that explosion to look this rough. "Cliffjumper what happened?" Ratchet asked as he immediately set Cliffjumper on a nearby berth and began his repairs.

"Well, the 'Cons showed up at the energon deposit that I found. But, the cowards couldn't fight a fair fight and blew it to kingdom come…and almost me with it. They were able to take me prisoner and I was sure that 'Scream was going to snuff me. But, he didn't." He then looked at Optimus seriously before saying. "Optimus…they have a human. It was why 'Scream let me live." The base grew solemn and I felt sorry for the human. The Decepticons were not as forgiving as the Autobots were and being a human in their base could get very unhealthy very quickly.

Optimus looked very solemn as he seemed to think. He thought for a long while before responding. "Without ready means to track the Decepticon warship, I am afraid that there is nothing we can do for the human for now. However, once the Decepticon warship can be located, rescuing the human becomes top priority. While the human may be safe for now, I fear that, if Megatron returns like I suspect he will, then that human could be in very real danger."

The base grew quiet for a few seconds before the bots turned to me. "I do not believe that we have been introduced to you yet." Optimus spoke to me. The others soon turned and stared at me, waiting expectantly.

After quickly making my company a reality in this dimension, I answered them. "My name is Paul Riley Muskogee, CEO of Cyber Tronics Technologies."

While my name didn't ring with the bots, Raf, who had just returned with the others, had heard of it. "Wow, that's the biggest technologies company in the nation. What are you doing here in Jasper?"

And there was the hard question. I needed to answer this as truthfully as I could without giving away too much about myself. "My personal assistant came to this area to take a well-deserved six-week vacation with the promise to be available for contact should an emergency pop up and with a promise to send me a message every couple of days so I could make sure that she was alright. I worry about her and I consider her a friend. She did fine for the first few couple of check ins but about two weeks ago I stopped hearing from her. Since she is my responsibility I decided to leave my company in capable hands and come find her myself."

I really was worried about her and I was thankful that the others around me didn't question me further about my motives. Lizzie was my responsibility, and had given up so much to help me, and so I needed to find her. That was a definite. While we were lucky that the human that the Decepticons had in their possession was able to keep Cliffjumper from being killed, I knew that I would need Lizzie's help later on to make sure the right changes happened.

 **Starscream's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

While I prided myself in my ability to take command when necessary, I now found myself on the bridge, standing next to Soundwave, worried. Not too long ago, a request came through the Decepticon frequency to open a space bridge to deep space and I knew that there was only one Cybertronian who could have made that call; Megatron. While normally his return was something to be celebrated, because that meant that any mistakes that were made were really his mistakes and not mine, I was worried about a decision that I had recently made.

That decision? Well, that was my choice to, not only keep the human femme alive, but allow her to be kept here on the ship. Megatron normally did not take kindly to outsiders being brought onto the ship unless they were in chains and being tortured for information and, normally, that's how I liked to see them. But, this was a youngling human, a sparkling really, and it went against my seeker programming to see any harm come to it. But, I was not sure that I would be able to stop Megatron from harming her should he discover her presence before Soundwave and I could explain the situation to him and why it would be beneficial to keep her alive…let alone on the ship.

It was the second part that Soundwave and I were trying to think of as Megatron flew toward the ship. While Soundwave and I could find the strategic value in having a human aboard our ship, especially since I had no doubt that the annoying Autobot Cliffjumper had reported her presence aboard our ship to the rest of the Autobots, we both knew that convincing Lord Megatron of her usefulness would be a challenge. There used to be a point in this war against the Autobots, long before he became corrupted, that Megatron would have immediately seen the value in allowing this human on the ship. But, Lord Megatron, the one that was about to enter this ship, would have to be convinced most thoroughly that this organic had any value to the Decepticon cause.

The sound of the bridge doors opening caused Soundwave and I to turn toward them and we immediately bowed our helms in respect as Lord Megatron walked in, his mere overpowering presence demanding respect. "Lord Megatron, we are most pleased that you have returned to us." I greeted Megatron.

As per usual, he scowled toward me. "Save your groveling Starscream. Soundwave," It was very…difficult to not roll my optics at his response. He then turned to the third in command. "How far has the Decepticon cause progressed since my departure three stellar cycles ago?"

In response, Soundwave lit up his screen with the current energon intake numbers from our mines and the low activity of interaction with the Autobots. Thankfully, Soundwave edited the fight with the Autobot Cliffjumper and showed that he was able to escape from the drones before the Nemesis arrived on the scene. I was grateful to him for that because I was sure that Megatron would have been most…displeased with me for releasing an Autobot prisoner.

However, before Soundwave could ease the report to show the presence of the human on the ship, a grate from above broke and my spark stopped as Rumble, Frenzy, and the human femme fell out. While I was thankful when the twins fell first so the human femme fell on top of them, I was petrified as Megatron's red optics narrowed in on the oblivious trio now laughing on the ground. This was the worst possible situation for the three of them right now and, while Rumble and Frenzy would get out of this practically unscathed, the human femme would probably not be as lucky.

After a few nano-clicks, the tense air in the room seemed to the trio on the floor and all of them showed terror as they gazed upon the leader of the Decepticons. I had no doubt that Rumble and Frenzy had informed our human guest about our illustrious leader. I had a feeling that the decision that Lord Megatron would make in the case of the young fleshling's continued living depended on how she responded to Lord Megatron's own reaction.

Speaking of that…

"Starscream! Soundwave! Why have you allowed our ship to become infested with vermin!?"

* * *

 **Lizzie: *cries* I'm going to die and it is barely past the prologue! *wails***

 **Authoress: *sighs* Lizzie Xantara Val it isn't known if you die next chapter. Who knows? Maybe Starscream will be...able to...*realizes how highly unlikely that situation is***

 **Lizzie: *yells in anger* I'M KILLING PAUL! *cries and wails some more***

* * *

 **AN: Hehehehe I left you all on cliff~hanger. *chuckles darkly* Anyways, I hope you all are enjoying this chapter. Just to let you know, Soundwave did have a motive for patting Lizzie on the back with his tentacle that you all might not get. It will be revealed later on why he did that exactly (though when that is I am not sure) and so you will all have to wait in utter confusion as I completely warp your sense of knowledge for this story. Next chapter will be looking at some Lizzie P.O.V. (though how much remains to be seen), some Megatron, Paul, and Starscream P. (though not necessarily in that order) and it is going to twist so many things around that no one will be able to guess what is going to happen...heck even I'm not one hundred percent sure of everything that will evolve in this story.**

 **...*whispers to darkness* ...did I just admit that? *darkness nods back*...Oops.**

 **Anyways, I hope you have all enjoyed this so far. I just finished my last final today (German final!) And so I am planning more updates in a shorter time span. I plan on focusing a lot of attention on this story but I will be working on a few of others *eyes Reawakened Revolution as one and Odyssey of a Strange Femme as another* as well. Until next time, please leave a review even if it is to say hi. I loves to say hi to people. Well, since that is all...TTYL! *walks into dark shifting shadows laughing***


	2. Falling Darkness

**AN: I only own my OCs. (As much as they would like to disown me sometimes. XD )**

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 **Lizzie: *angrily* Well great, this story just started and I am going to die. Well, hope Paul can fix all this crap by himself.**

 **Authoress: *calming*Please calm down Lizzie. It isn't guaranteed that you are dead yet. Your odds might not be the greatest but not definite death.**

 **Lizzie: *sarcastic* Thanks Authoress. You are so great at making people feel better. *marches out***

 **Authoress: *sighs* I can't please anyone can I?**

* * *

Ch. 1: Falling Darkness

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

…I was really going to kill Paul. Seriously. After my meeting with the twins, which was actually pretty nice after they…surprised me with their drop from the ceiling, they had decided to give me a special tour of the Nemesis through their point of view. That meant walking through a lot of the vents. I was kind of glad that they were showing me these paths. My original thoughts had been that I might have use of them later while avoiding Megatron until my stay on the ship could be broken to him easily. I figured that Starscream and Soundwave were going to try and tell Megatron about me.

…Yeah, that was definitely not the case here.

"How did this vermin arrive on our ship since we are traveling through the air?" Megatron growled as he started to warm up his fusion cannon. Well, this wasn't getting any better.

Glancing at Starscream for a second, I realized that I was going to have to start this conversation going in the right direction. Yep. Even though it was in a different sense then what I originally made up the nickname, Starscream was still a robot chicken. I had to get this fragging thing moving so I wouldn't become blown to bits. Thankfully, the twins had told me about Megatron during their tour and so I could pull something off. "I…I'm not sure sir." I hated that I stuttered but it was the best that I could pull off right now and still keep myself composed.

A shiver travelled down my spine as Megatron narrowed his optics at me. Honestly, he looked about ten times to the tenth power more terrifying then I ever imagined him when I would write my stories…and I usually made him more scary than the show for those.

Thankfully, my temporary guardian known as Soundwave stepped forward and showed Megatron the footage of the empty hall that I ended up in and we all got to watch as I suddenly appeared unconscious. Great. My hair was a disaster. …Anyways, Soundwave then showed Megatron battle schematics that kind of reminded me of playing a fantasy version of Risk that I used to play with my mom and had some models move across it.

"Yes, as Soundwave points out, the Autobots will be less likely to attack us since the Autobot Cliffjumper saw the human during his failed infiltration of the Nemesis and he is sure to report her presence to Optimus." And it was at that point that I found myself falling deeper into shock as Starscream and Soundwave…in a way, defended me against Megatron. I had to be dreaming. Hopefully, I wouldn't wake up.

A growl coming from Megatron had Starscream stepping back slightly and five of us in the room waited on edge for Megatron's final verdict on my presence here. Of course, I was pretty sure that none of them were more nervous than myself. They all had current value to the Decepticon cause. I on the other hand had no such cushioning. So, I had to just hope that Megatron was in a decent enough mood to let me continue being a solid piece of meat…and living meat at that.

The relief I felt reminded me of a cold wash of water when Megatron slowly powered down his cannon as he stared at me. "Very well." Megatron started while staring at me. "For the time being, you may be allowed to live aboard the Nemesis. However, we will not change our routines for you human. If you so happen to end up underneath our pedes, you will cease to exist and there will be no sorrow for your destruction."

Well…that was making me aware of my situation very quickly.

But, I figured that I should probably answer his outline of my life for the foreseeable future. "Thank you. I am very grateful." And I was dead serious. But, the look that Megatron was giving me showed me that he was annoyed with my answer.

Thankfully, before he could say anything about it, the twins grabbed my arms before Rumble said, "We'll go show her around some more. Let Lizzie know where she is allowed to go and what is considered no go." Then, to my grateful thanks, the two of them pulled me out of the room.

It wasn't until the doors closed behind the three of us and we were down the hall somewhat that I finally let out the breath that I was holding. "That…that…" I couldn't even get more than one word out at the moment I was still in shock from my brush with death.

Rumble shook his helm and said, "Femme, I'm pretty sure that you are one of the luckiest beings alive. Not only did 'Screamer decide to help you, but Megatron is letting you live for now. You can bet I'm glad that the boss is watching you. Maybe we can get some luck from you. We've been trying to prank 'Screamer for the past thirty solar cycles but we haven't had any luck. Maybe you can be lucky for us?"

"Yeah. Maybe if I live long enough." I responded to them hesitantly. I wasn't normally a hesitant person but I would be lying through my teeth if I even tried to say that Megatron hadn't shaken me to my core. Primus I was still slightly shaking.

Speaking of Primus, that god had better be reading for an aft kicking when I was finally able to get my hands on him. I probably hadn't even been here for a day and I already had my life threatened more times than I cared for. Now, I just had to make sure that I could survive this until I could communicate with Paul and share with him everything that was going on. I was sure that changing a lot of show time line things would really mess with everything.

I flinched when I felt Rumble lightly tap my shoulder. "Hey, I bet you will live at least another thirty solar cycles." He then let out a laugh with Frenzy.

While I had a feeling that they were trying to cheer me up, saying that they were giving me a month to live was not exactly 'comforting'. "Thanks."

Hey…sarcasm works in many situations to calm someone down. This was a beginning.

 **Starscream's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

Primus had to be looking over that human. As I now followed behind Lord Megatron, I realized that he could have very well obliterated the human before any of us were able to speak up in defense of keeping her online. That in itself was impressive and then to take it even further and allowing her to live? Well, I had to say that human was very lucky indeed.

However, there were still some questions that I had about the human's arrival on this ship. Our security is highly advanced and can detect if the Autobots would even try and come aboard our ship. It also has high defense against any sort of teleportation used to enter the base. Yet, this human just ended up appearing unconscious in the middle of the Nemesis. No sign of her arrival even evident on our scanners. Cybertronian scanners couldn't detect what had allowed the human to bypass our defenses and it was that, combined with her unconscious state when she arrived, that caused me to hesitate in questioning her.

While I could see that she had some confidence in her, I was at least glad to see that she had some fear in her during that confrontation with Megatron. The human seemed to realize that she was best served being subservient to Megatron.

Plus, she looked very terrified as it was. Once the air around here calmed down a little, I would see if she was alright. She was just a human youngling after all. Suddenly being in a new place surrounded by, what to her, were alien beings, would be a little jarring. After Lord Megatron showed me what he was able to accomplish during his time in deep space, I would send Soundwave a message to check on the human femme.

"Starscream." I immediately paid attention as Lord Megatron started to address me. It wasn't a good habit to ignore him during these times. "I am sure you are aware, but since I have returned I will now issue the commands."

I twitched slightly at the implication that I was unfit to command but let it slide…since he did let the human live. "I understand, Lord Megatron." This now seemed like the right time to ask about Megatron's army that he was supposed to be locating among the stars. "Then as your humble servant, shall I ready the space bridge to bring forth the Decepticon army you have surely gathered during your three years in space."

Lord Megatron stayed quiet for a nano-click as we entered one of the storage rooms. Inside, I was surprised to see a large chunk of a crystalized substance that seemed to glow a menacing purple color. "My army _will_ come." Megatron finally started to answer me. "However, my time away has yielded a more…intriguing means of materializing them."

How was he supposed to do that? There was no faster way to bring a large army of soldiers here to Earth except through the space bridge. "How can that be?" I questioned him.

Megatron glared at me through the corner of his optics before he then pulled off a small sliver of the purple crystal and explaining. "The solidified form of the matter the ancient texts refer to as the Blood of Unicron."

My optics widened at the idea of what Megatron was holding, and what he had brought onto the ship. This was… "Unicron the Destroyer." I commented while studying the crystalized substance. "But it is said that his blood is the anti-spark."

"Plucked from cosmic shores…gaze upon dark energon!" Megatron finished as he held the shard that he had taken out for…well I wasn't sure why he took it out.

Keeping a wary optic on the dark energon, I spoke. "Legend says that it holds the power to…revive the dead." Glancing at Megatron, I was now nervous at what he intended to do with the dark energon. There were not enough historical texts about the substance and I feared that it would be too risky to employ amongst our own troops.

"During my travels, I tested the substance on Cybertronian cadavers I came across." Megatron started as he continued to gaze upon the substance. "However, I have seen this power born of darkness reignite a spark. The spark itself does not come back fully online. Instead, a crazed shell of the previous Cybertronian is brought into existence and attacks anything it sees brutally and completely. It will not follow orders."

I…I couldn't believe what my audios were hearing. Did Megatron really want an army of out of control monsters near our soldiers? "That's your plan? To bring Cybertronian's back from the dead to attack, not only the Autobots, but us as well?"

However it seems as if our glorious leader needed his audios checked for he said nothing about my comment. "Here lies the indestructible seed to my army…the ultimate weapon…once I learn to control it." Right. There was no way to control something that was born of the Blood of Unicron. We Cybertronians…no matter what affiliation, ran on energon. Our very lifeblood did not allow us to even hope to control anything comprised of its counter substance called dark energon.

I had to get him away from here before our Lord and Master decided to do something…ill-advised. "Maybe you should take a break my Lord." I started, motioning to the door. "I worry that too much contact with the dark energon might allow its properties to adversely affect you."

Instead of agreeing with me, or yelling and still agreeing, I was surprised when Megatron responded me calmly. "Or perhaps, Starscream, I have not permitted myself enough…contact." He then looked down at the shard of dark energon in his servo and I realized exactly what he was planning.

I couldn't let this go unchallenged no matter what he did to me in response. "Wait! Lord Megatron! No! Not your spark chamber!" Megatron was out of his processor! "You do not know what it will do!"

However, I knew that I could not physically stop Megatron from doing this so, instead, I found myself rooted by my pedes in shock. Once he did this, everything about our cause was going to change…and I doubted that it would be for the better. But, when Megatron got this way, there was nothing that any of us could do to…

"Wait!"

The shrill high tone and fear in the voice that yelled that actually caused Megatron to pause in his movements and for the both of us to turn toward a now open vent on the right side of the room and we both saw the human sitting there with wide optics…eyes they were called by the humans, both Rumble and Frenzy staring at her in surprise.

 **Megatron's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

What was going on? One nano-click ago, I was ready to plunge this shard of dark energon into my spark. To become whole with the dark substance to control an army of the undead no matter what it might cost me. No one should have been able to stop me. Not when my processor was that set on what I wanted to do.

Yet, at the yell of the vermin femme, my servo hesitated and I found the shard to be a sliver away from piercing my spark chamber. Why had I stopped at the human's yell? I didn't even stop when my second in command yelled at me to stop. But, one word from the human femme had me stopping. It must be because her voice was one that I did not have recognized yet and my instincts told me to observe it.

As confusing as the cause of my halted actions were, I now found myself coming out of an almost nightmare like state. Would this dark energon really help my troops in our fight against the Autobots? Or was this something to further along my personal self and make me even stronger? This wasn't what the Decepticon cause fought for. I might be its leader, but this cause was not to further my own personal goals. I was to lead my followers against the Autobots and those that they stood for; the council.

Focusing back on the human standing at the edge of the open vent, I found my processor dragging up a memory from my very distant past. A memory from when the war was still in its infancy solar cycles. The city-state of Vos had been almost completely destroyed and I had personally gone, along with other Decepticons, to find any survivors.

 _Flashback_

 _The scent of burning metal and energon assaulted my sense of smell as I walked through the devastated remains of the Royal Court of Vos. My pedesteps echoed around a room that had once been filled with debating politicians that would quibble while their ruler, Lord Skyscream would observe all that happened with a keen optic. His bonded mate, Lady Firecracker, would sometimes be seen standing by his side with soft optics helping calm the atmosphere in the room._

 _A few times in the past, I had been a guest in this once great hall and now, seeing it reduced to rubble along with the smoldering chassis of the mechs and femmes that would actively partake in the court made my spark constrict in anger. While the cause of the attack was still to be determined, I knew who was responsible; the council. While Vos was still a neutral in the civil war between my Decepticons and the council's Autobots, it was no secret that Vos' favor laid with my Decepticons._

 _It seemed that, now, the council decided to strike back._

 _This attack came without warning, nothing was done to warn Vos of the incoming attack. Unfortunately, the council had been too quiet about this attack and, by the time my Decepticons learned of it, the attack had already been launched. We were able to make one call to the Vosnian court but, it came clicks too late. My Decepticons have recorded the first nano-clicks of the bombing before the audio went quiet. Now, I searched for any survivors in the wreckage._

 _It was the small sound of scrapping metal that caused me to become alert and look around. There was somebot else here. That metal scrapping was too loud for it to be anything else besides another Cybertronian. So, I had to proceed with caution. From the direction of the sound, I knew that whoever it was had to be somewhere behind Lord Skyscream's previous throne. Unfortunately, I knew it was previous because Skyscream's chassis could be made out against one of the walls with holes torn through it, his bondmate's right next to it._

 _Once I made my way behind the throne, I saw that there was an opening that was exposed in the wall behind it. It was probably forced slightly open due to the explosion. I knew that, whoever was on the other side of the door, was probably shaken from the bombings that had leveled most of the once stunning city-state. I had to proceed cautiously. So, once I arrived at the exposed opening, I carefully pushed open the door._

 _The scene before me was not what I was expecting._

 _Against the far wall was a heavily injured dark purple and black seeker youngling. He had a piece of shrapnel stuck in his side and there were scrapes scattered on his chassis as well as a knot on his helm. I was surprised that the seeker was conscious. In front of him, and with two blasters pointed directly at me, was an almost identical seeker who looked a little older than the injured mech. The one on the defense was blue in color with yellow highlights and his red optics were hard as they stayed on me. Next to him, however, was a silver youngling who looked a little older than the injured one but younger than the one on the defense and it was his reaction that caused me to hesitate in my walk. His red optics showed fear. It was fear of the unknown and what I was going to do. While I was aware of the blue one aiming his blasters at me, I knew that I had to be cautious when talking to these three. The silver one reminded me that they had just survived a bombing and were confused and hurt._

" _I am only here to help you. Allow me to take you to my base where my medics can heal you." While I was talking, I realized that the three of them looked familiar and it was only after I finished that I realized why._

" _Talk is cheap." The blue one snapped at me. "What guarantee can you give me that you are going to let us walk away without any cables attached?"_

 _These three…they were the only three, and now surviving, creations of Lord Skyscream and Lady Firecracker. I had never met the three seekerlings before, however I had heard of them from both creators during our talks over the past stellar cycles._

 _I looked to the three younglings again, and more at the silver one who still looked on in fear at me…watched every move that I made with wide optics. This reminded me that I had to be careful with how I spoke to them. That little one would remember this solar cycle for millennia to come and I had no doubt that it would help change him into whatever sort of bot he would become. "I can promise that you will be healed, and that you will not be forced into joining my Decepticons. Also, I promise that you will not be used against each other by me or my Decepticons at any point after this discussion no matter what your choice."_

 _While the blue seekerling continued to study me with a glare, the expression on the silver seekerling was what told me that the tide of the conversation had changed. Slowly, the silver seekerling's faceplate turned from one of fear to one of slight hope._

End of flashback.

That silver youngling had been Starscream after the destruction of Vos those millions of stellar cycles ago along with his brothers who he eventually formed a seeker trine with. That had been my first meeting with the silver seeker and I would have never guessed where that meeting would have landed the two of us this solar cycles.

Speaking of this solar cycle, I brought myself back to the present and glanced at the shard of dark energon in my servo. With that memory now fresh in my processor, I realized that this was the wrong path to take. My army was not made of mindless monsters and never should be. We were the oppressed of Cybertron that was fighting back against an oppressive and corrupt council ruling system. I could not allow myself to soil the Decepticon fight with a cheat escape with dark energon.

Glancing up at the human, who was still staring at me with those fear filled organic eyes that had stopped my actions, I was reaffirmed in what I needed to do. So, I got on my comm link with Soundwave. "Soundwave, open a space bridge to Earth's sun." It wasn't long before the blue vortex appeared before me. I knew that my next action was a risk, but I could not jeopardize my remaining troops due to a type of energon that I had seen the unstable effects of first servo. Thankfully, while I had been going with the dark energon for the first part of revitalizing my army, it was not my only solution.

"Lord Megatron," I turned to Starscream and gave him a hard look. He was on thin metal with me as it was due to allowing the organic to live in the first place…no matter how helpful she may or may not become. "what is your decision?"

While it was really none of his business, I decided to say my plans aloud anyways. "I have decided that I do not need this dark energon to make my Decepticons great. What we need are live soldiers who will fight for our cause." I then picked up all of the dark energon in my possession and only hesitated for a nano-click before throwing it through the bridge. After a few clicks of all of us waiting, Soundwave sent me a confirmation that the dark energon I had gathered was now destroyed. "It is done." I said aloud.

When I heard an audible sigh, I glanced up at the vent and saw that the human femme looked relieved. If I did need to use her, I hopped this allowed her to trust me slightly more. It would make manipulating her easier later on.

"My Lord," Starscream again started. "without the dark energon, what are your plans?"

"My plans are simple Starscream." I began while walking toward the doors. "The Decepticons have spent too much time wondering down this path toward destruction. We initially started our fight to protect the rights of _all_ Cybertronians and that is where we will return. I will ensure that the Decepticons can thrive in the cosmos and will take down any and all that stand in my way…no matter how big or small." I then walked past Starscream and toward the now open door. But, before I passed through it, I glanced back. "We will amass our army here and take out those who stand against us once and for all."

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"Since you now know of our existence, I fear that as of last night, the Decepticons know of yours." Optimus explained to us. The kids had started to get a little bored at base and had asked Optimus to explain to them why they couldn't just leave.

"Got it," Jack started, "if we spot any strange vehicles…call 911." He then paused. "Can…we go now?"

And that just proved how little Jack really 'got it'. Since he wasn't one of my creations, I could completely agree with Lizzie in her annoyance of him. The Decepticons could disguise themselves as anything, and that meant the police. We had to now be careful anywhere we decided to go. That was going to be a little more difficult for me as it was for the kids because I had plans that I had to get set in motion within the first season, no matter if Lizzie was with me or not. If those plans did not get set in motion in time, then it could destroy any hope of Lizzie and I truly changing this dimension.

…I was still worried about her. Even though I had only mutually known Lizzie for a short while, I had been looking into her for years to become the candidate for this 'job'. When I had first met her, I was impressed with her quick wit and strong defense of whatever she thought was right and cared about. But, with her absence, I was going to have to interfere even though I was not exactly excited to do that. These were my creations and it almost felt wrong to do so. But, there were events that had to be changed and I had already expended too much of my extra energy to transfer both Lizzie and myself to this dimension.

"Are you…insane?" Miko asked. She reminded me of Lizzie when she was younger…I had been watching Lizzie for years so I had seen her at Miko's age, and it allowed me to better understand why she liked Miko as a character when many in Lizzie's world did not. "I'm living a dream here in bot-swana…And I will _not_ allow _you_ or anyone else to shatter it!"

Thankfully, before the two of them could start arguing, Optimus intervened. "It is best that you four remain under our watch. At least until we can determine our enemies intentions." That sounded like a good plan and I was on board with it.

However, it seemed like Ratchet had…reservations. "Optimus, with all due respect, the human children are in as much danger here as anywhere."

"Children?" I questioned instead of Jack. While it would have been strange for Jack to question it since he was still a teenager and thus a child, I was a full adult who owned his own company. I was not some 'child'.

Ratchet either didn't hear my complaint or didn't care…I was going for the second one. "They have no protective shell. If they get underpede they will go…" He then seemed to search for the right word. "Squish." He then set his pede down harder than normal to emphasize his point.

Optimus, thankfully, had a comeback to that. "Then for the time being, Ratchet, we must watch where we step."

And that was one of Optimus' best lines in the show…well, that was what Lizzie would say in her private messages that I used to hack into.

…What? I had to find out about her someway and she wasn't exactly a social butterfly.

When a green light and an alarm started to go off, I realized that this was Fowler coming in for the first time to complain about the traffic hold up that had saved the kids. "What's that?" Jack asked in a panicked voice. Seriously that human needed to relax a little. He was starting to make me nervous…and that took a lot.

" _That's a proximity sensor on top of the base going off."_ Bumblebee answered Jack, though Jack couldn't understand Bumblebee and I wasn't supposed to.

Thankfully, we had our translator known as Raf to help us. "Proximity sensor. Someone's up top."

And I was not looking forward to working with Fowler. Thankfully, it wasn't quite time for that to happen. I still had a little freedom before my first confrontation with the adults. That was going to give me one doozy of a helm ache when it did come though of that I was sure.

"It's Agent Fowler." Ratchet reported not sounding the least bit enthused. Guess he was in the same opinion on dealing with Fowler as I was. Glad to know he and I could agree on something for the nano-click.

Of course, Jack had to ask questions. Seriously he was more annoying than Miko's questions were. I was starting to understand what Lizzie meant when she would say that Jack was her least favorite human. "I thought we were the only humans who knew about you guys?"

Thankfully, Optimus answered him. "Special Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world." He then seemed to hesitate before continuing. "As he tends to visit only when there are…issues, it may be best if you do not meet him at this time."

And I fully agreed with that. "Come on let's go hide out over there." I then motioned to the area where they hid in the regular timeline. Thankfully, they all listened to me without argument and, almost as soon as we were hidden, the elevator door opened and the big man known as Special Agent William 'Bill' Fowler walked out.

…Well, stormed out complaining was the better term. "Seven wrecks, thirty four fender benders, a three hour traffic jam, and a particular note; numerous reports of a speeding motorcycle of an unknown make and a black and yellow custom muscle car."

It was at that point that I noticed Jack peeking out from around the corner and so I pulled him back. "Do you want to get the bots in trouble?" I asked him in a serious whispered tone.

He shook his head. "No I was just curious."

I shook my own head in return. "Then just wait and listen. There is a time and place for everything and now is not the time to be poking around corners with your full body exposed."

Thankfully, before I could continue ranting, Fowler continued. "So, anything you care to get off your tin chest Prime?"

Fowler really had an attitude in the beginning of this show. Of course, since I knew from the future that humans were, by accident, the progeny of my brother, their attitudes could sometimes be explained. It was hereditary.

"We have the situation under control Agent Fowler." Optimus answered more calmly than I could have pulled off during the click. I was glad that I had granted him the Matrix.

However, it seemed like Fowler didn't miss a beat. "They're back aren't they?"

"If you are referring to the Decepticons," Optimus started, "I have doubts that they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable."

"Then it's time to wake up the Pentagon." Fowler motioned. No, that would be a bad idea. With how events were changing already, we couldn't risk the government getting involved with this any more than they already were supposed to…which wasn't much.

Thankfully, Optimus still wasn't going to allow him that. "Hear me Agent Fowler, we are your best…possibly your only defense against the Decepticon threat."

Like a regular American, Fowler couldn't let that one go. "Says you."

Thankfully…or maybe not so much, Bulkhead interrupted him. "Hey flashy, did anyone get splattered on that freeway?" He then reached out and grabbed one of Ratchet's tools. "Team Prime knows when to use force," he then squeezed the already broken machine. "and how much to use."

Unfortunately for his argument, Ratchet wasn't exactly thrilled about losing a piece of equipment. "Bulkhead I needed that!"

"Enough!" Optimus interrupted before the two could start bickering…or Ratchet start ranting, before he turned back to Agent Fowler. "Military involvement will only result in catastrophe." He then rose to his full height before continuing. "Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties Agent Fowler. I, however, cannot."

While most people would have backed down at that, Fowler seemed to be, as the humans phrased it, chomping at the bit. "Then do us both a favor and handle this Prime…under the radar." He then turned and I knew that he walked back into the elevator before saying, "Or I will."

Once I was sure that Fowler was gone, I ushered the kids out as Bulkhead spoke. "Pretty big bearings…for a human."

"Agent Fowler is concerned for his world Bulkhead…as he should be." Optimus responded to that.

…And with that deep thought, I decided that it was high time I took a nap. Besides being exhausted due to my mental worry for Lizzie, I figured that trying to catch her in her sleep might allow me to contact my missing employee. "I think I'm going to take a quick nap. Try not to wake me up unless it is important." I then walked up to the human area and laid down on the couch before shutting my eyes.

It wasn't long before I was in my sub-conscious and I tried to reach out to Lizzie's mind. Her mind would be very different compared to the minds here in this dimension since her thoughts were influenced by different issues in her world compared to this one. So, I just had to lock on those mind waves and then I would be able to contact her or, at the very least, figure out where she is.

However, as time seemed to pass, I realized that I was not reaching her and that had me worried. Wherever she was, she had to be behind very advanced shielding or…

I shook my mind out of those thoughts as two figures materialized in front of me. They were easily recognizable since I knew my own children. "Prima, Solus; what brings you here?"

The two of them looked at each other before Prima spoke. "We…are worried. Your transport of the human girl, Lizzie Xantara Val, to the dimension you are currently in was tampered with and we do not know as of yet who caused that disruption. However, we cannot seem to locate the missing human and that is strange as well."

I knew this and their concerns were concerns of mine as well. "I know this and I am confused by it as well. If you could, ask the other Primes to keep an optic open for Lizzie and let me know when she is located. I must get in contact with her so I can stop interfering in the lives of my creations so much. They need to be able to have free will and that is hard when I am making changes."

"Unfortunately, Primus, you don't have much of a choice." Solus cut in. "You are running low on energy as it is. From your current levels, it appears that you are staying in this dimension until your spark chamber can be restored. Also, you aren't really forcing these changes. Since you are in a…human form…you can make suggestions but it is up to the Autobots' free wills if they will accept your suggestions."

I hadn't thought of my situation in that way and I was glad that Prima and Solus had decided to contact me during my failed search for Lizzie. "You are correct Solus. Then, until I locate Lizzie, I will take a more active role in interfering where I need to. I have to try and keep the timeline in check was well as I can but I can't force my interference. It must be accepted though so I will not force my will on my creations. They must accept it."

Both Primes nodded and looked like they were about to say something. However it seems like my time in my subconscious was up as I felt a pull back toward the realm of the conscious. Their words were soundless as I was pulled awake.

I jolted as I was pulled awake by an explosion. Looking toward the bridge, I realized that it was from the energon that the Decepticons exploded. Optimus was now standing up from what must have been a great landing.

"Cutting it a bit close?" Ratchet asked as everyone settled down from the excitement. "Did you get the energon?"

That's right. Since Cliffjumper was alive in this one, the Autobots had to have a different reason to go to the mine. Going after energon would be a good excuse to go to the mine. Throughout the timeline the Autobots always found themselves short on energon and I doubted that this would be any different.

"What was that explosion? Was there a fight? Can I come with next time?" Miko asked as the bots still tried to recover.

"What happened?" Ratchet asked the more important question out of all of those.

Now, it was time to introduce the essence of my brother. I was not ready for this but I knew that it was going to stick with me for the rest of my time here. Bulkhead started the debrief. "There were more drones than normal at the mine as well as Soundwave." Wait…Soundwave? It was supposed to be Starscream there. It looked like this was changing as well. Wonder what Starscream was up to since he wasn't in the cave? Maybe he was avoiding an angry Megatron. But, who could really know?

"Soundwave dropped a bomb and then we booked out of there." Cliffjumper sighed with a shake of his helm.

I waited for more to happen…something…one of the bots to collapse due to exposure to dark energon…well I was really waiting for that. But, as the seconds ticked on and the rest of the talking went to the background, I felt my spark beat quicken as I realized that something was seriously wrong. This couldn't be happening and I had no idea how this was not happening. I hadn't interfered with enough events in the time line for something this drastic to happen.

Even though I heard Optimus assign Cliffjumper as my guardian…my mind wasn't registering it. I was in shell shock at what was happening came to a full stop in front of me.

…There…there had yet to be any dark energon.

* * *

 **Paul: This is getting very annoying. Why are things changing when I haven't messed with them yet?**

 **Authoress: *shrugs* Maybe because you are that lucky?**

 **Paul: *frowns* If I was that lucky, I would have found Lizzie by now. *hesitates* Speaking on that...Authoress where is...*turns to look at Authoress***

 **Authoress: *running away down the hall***

 **Paul: *chases after her***

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this and all of the changes that I have made. The biggest one being that dark energon seems to be taking a large back role in this story so far...like none at all! I hope you all enjoyed that little bit. I was debating on whether or not to have Megatron impale himself with the dark energon but eventually decided against it to enrich the story and its diversity some more. Next chapter we get some crossing of tides with the Autobots and Decepticons when Fowler gets captured by the Decepticons. With all the changes in the story who knows what will happen.**

 **Well, I can't say anything else at this time without giving away more than I already have. Please leave a review letting me know how I did or even to say hello! Until next we meet, TTTYL! *continues running from Paul***


	3. Integrating with the Cause

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

* * *

 **Lizzie: Well, this certainly seems more promising than the last chapter.**

 **Frenzy: Yeah, still doesn't look like you are going to be close to death. That's a miracle for this story so far.**

 **Both Twins: *laugh***

 **Authoress: *laughs* Anyways, Lizzie at least you aren't stuck with Fowler.**

 **Lizzie: *nods* True, he was always annoying.**

 **Rumble: *confused* What are you two talking about?**

 **Lizzie and Authoress: Nothing!**

* * *

Ch. 2: Integrating with the Cause

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

 _ **Crack!**_

I winced as I my back cracked for the third time this morning. The night was pretty long and, even though I couldn't remember them, I had nightmares throughout the night. To make matters even worse, I was sleeping on a berth and not on a regular human comfort level bed. While I wasn't going to be complaining to Soundwave, it definitely wasn't very comfortable sleeping on cold metal.

"Are humans supposed to make cracks that loud?" Frenzy asked me as he, along with Rumble and I, walked through the vents heading toward one of the empty rooms.

After a succession of some smaller cracks down my back, I shook my head. "No, but I'm not used to sleeping on a metal bed. Once I get used to it the cracking will stop." Eventually.

"What do you normally sleep on?" Rumble asked me as we stopped at an opening and he started to take of the vent cover.

Shrugging, I listed the basics. "Well, usually a mattress with a sheet covering it, a couple of pillows with pillow cases, and a blanket to keep me warm. But, like I said, I'll get used to this." And I really would. I was not going to risk getting Megatron annoyed with me because I wanted some of the comforts of home. Plus, having extra human amenities might clutter Soundwave's room even more than the twins did with their prank items and I didn't need to be adding anything of mine to the mix.

Though if I was going to avoid smelling, I should probably ask them about a wash racks that I could use…and some soap to wash myself and my clothes…and some deodorant and tooth paste and a tooth brush.

…Yeah, I had to get a few things. But, they could wait another day or two to get out of the first five episodes. Once that was through then everything should calm down and I could get some human stuff. But, until then, we had to get through all of this craziness. That was especially since the timeline was all out of whack and it was pretty much Paul's fault since I was here and not where I should be. Wonder why he hasn't tried to contact me yet? Oh well.

Now seemed like a good time to bring up something that I noticed this morning. "Hey mechs," They both looked to me before I continued, "I didn't see Soundwave and Laserbeak this morning when I woke up. Do you know where they went?"

They both looked at each other and nodded before jumping down into the room below. They then looked up to me before Frenzy said, "Get on down here Lizzie and we'll tell you." Yep, definitely wanting to have me come down there. Was it such a big deal? I couldn't even think of what episode we were supposed to be on due to all the changes. All that I did know was that we had not passed the five opening episodes of the series. But, from what I had experienced I couldn't be sure where I was. Maybe what the twins were going to tell me would help me find out where we were exactly.

So, I moved down to the ground level as quickly as I could, only slipping a couple of times, and once I was down there I moved to a corner of the room where the twins were messing with activators for some of the traps. I guess we were multitasking. "Okay, so where are they?" I asked as I grabbed a few vials of glitter and started to put them in one of the machines.

Rumble grabbed a couple bottles of glue and started to empty their contents into canisters before saying, "Lord Megatron called them to the bridge with 'Screamer about an hour before you woke up. Soundwave is working on trying to intercept any Autobot communications, 'Scream has to go over some old files on our troops to see who might be nearby, and Megatron had Soundwave send Laserbeak out on patrol."

Wait…Laserbeak was out on patrol without Soundwave? Within the first five episodes, there was only one time where Laserbeak was away from Soundwave and that was episode three. That meant that there actually wasn't much that I knew happened with the Decepticons except for when Laserbeak would, now hopefully, bring in Agent Fowler for interrogation on where the Autobot base was. Hopefully, Paul would find a way to get on this ship and tell me what to do. I doubted that Soundwave would allow me to escape and, as I spent more time on the ship, I found that I really didn't want to leave.

We then continued to work on these trap activators and the three of us made small talk while doing so. I ended up finding out that Rumble and Frenzy had met Soundwave in the Pits of Kaon. That was a surprise for me because their origin with Soundwave was something of a debate. Some thought that he had built all of his symbiots but others believed that he had met the mini-cons sometime before the war and they had agreed on the bond. While I wasn't sure what it was like in other dimensions…if they existed, I now knew that the latter option was the case in this dimension.

Of course, it was a give and take situation. I had to tell them about one of my most embarrassing moments which included a rake, a hole, and a scrap of white cloth. However, I was not going into that even in my head.

…It was a very shudder-inducing memory.

Thankfully, we didn't have time to exchange any more information as the two of them seemed to receive a message at the same time. While I couldn't hear what was being said, I could see their optics and, after a few nano-clicks, their optics widened. I waited impatiently as they finished listening to whoever was speaking.

However, once they were done, I decided to get things moving. "So, what was that about?" I asked them as they stood and I followed.

Both smirked before saying, "Soundwave just told us that Laserbeak was able to capture the human agent working with the Autobots." He then paused and looked at me. "The Autobots are our enemies." I nodded and acted like I didn't already know that. So, he continued. "Anyways, Lord Megatron is going to land the ship and have Starscream interrogate him…" To my surprise, he then paused before looking at me. "Hey Lizzie, want to go and watch?"

Well…as bad as it was going to sound, I was actually wanting to go and watch. First of all, I would be able to keep track of the episode. Secondly, it would help take pressure off of me and show that I was willing to integrate with the Decepticons and I wasn't planning an escape…which I might depending on when Paul would get in contact with me. So, this would make my escape easier. I doubted that, with Soundwave as my unofficial guardian, it would be easy to escape but hopefully gaining trust would make it easier if the time arose.

Also, I wasn't exactly a fan of Fowler's during the first bit of the series and so watching his interrogation actually sounded like a lot of fun.

So, I smiled and nodded. "Why not? Lead the way you two."

The two of them smiled widely and nodded before helping me back up to the vent, since the one in this room was a little higher up then the others, and we made our way through the ventilation system of the Nemesis toward the interrogation room. As I moved between the twins, I almost found myself shaking with anticipation of what was to come. With the changes that I had personally been witness to, I knew that there was no way to guess what would happen next. It was exhilarating!

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"So, how are you enjoying Earth?" I asked Cliffjumper as we sped down the abandoned highway.

It had taken the Autobots a few moments to snap me out of my shock and, thankfully, I was able to blow off my shock of the dark energon being absent with my worry for Lizzie. So, Cliffjumper had taken me to the house that I had bought for this mission and, once I was settled in bed, I had gone to sleep immediately and tried to reach out to Lizzie.

However, instead of not being able to find Lizzie, which also happened, I was blocked from finding her. I felt like I could not expand my presence from further than a radius that expanded to the Autobot base. I could sense where each and every Autobot was in their base, and I had even expanded my parameters and I could tell where the kids were as well as Fowler, who was staying at the Unit E base not terribly far from the other side of Jasper.

"I'm all about Earth! I love your culture, your car races, and your people are so diverse, and they can change their look almost as easily as I can. While I might disagree with a few of your smaller rules…"

"Like speeding?" I cut off Cliffjumper with a smirk.

I could feel him laugh at that. "Yeah, like some of your speed limits. I don't understand why you can only go 55 on a slag nearly perfect straight and flat road. Plus your parking is all confusing. Why can I park on a street barely large enough for two cars without any parked on the side and yet I can't park in certain areas where there is plenty of space for four cars?"

Honestly, those were both points that confused me on human laws as well. However, since I was in disguise as a human, I had to make up an excuse. "Well, if I had to take a guess, I would have to say that it would be due to how we probably age differently than you all do. We have older people living in areas that are flat and they want to drive slow. So, they complain and get the speed limit lowered. As for the parking, well, I'll be honest and say that I really don't understand that one."

Cliffjumper then continued to speed along and we sat in a comfortable silence for a good hour before Cliffjumper suddenly spoke. "Paul…would you answer a question for me?"

I stared at Cliff's dashboard before nodding. "Sure, I can try."

Cliffjumper turned into the desert, to turn around to head back to base, before he asked his question. "If you had the chance to better your life, what would you give up?"

That was a difficult question and I thought I had an idea as to where he was coming from. He had probably done some research on me last night, to figure out just what he was getting into with guarding me, and he saw that I was a CEO of Cyber Tronics technologies. While I had introduced myself as that last night, they might not have realized what the meant.

So, I figured I would jump into the question the best I could. "Nothing. I wouldn't give up a thing." I then paused to let my words think in before I continued. "I appreciate every single part of my life and I can't see myself giving anything up to try and better my life. I've only come this far in life with the support of those around me and I have not sacrificed anything that I would ever regret and I will not sacrifice anything to further myself more. If I would sacrifice to further my career, then that would just sully my reputation and hurt my career further down the road."

And that was why I left my 'company' to bring Lizzie to this dimension and get everything straightened out here. However, it seems like my attempt has only made things even more confusing than before. Cliffjumper ended up living even though I didn't interact with anything that would have prevented it and, most importantly, dark energon hadn't been present in the mine. I knew that there had to be a reason that these changes were happening but I just couldn't figure it out for the life of me. Maybe something was preventing me from recognizing what that was? That sounded ridiculous but, at this point, I was sure that anything was possible.

It took us half an hour to return to the base and, when we did, I was surprised to see that the only ones who were in the base were Bulkhead and the kids. Once Cliffjumper stopped, I got out and let him transform before we made our way over to the group. "Hey Bulk, where did everyone run off to?"

I was curious as well. Since dark energon hadn't made an appearance yet, Optimus and Ratchet were more than likely not going to be encountering the army of the undead that Megatron presented them as a surprise. So, why were they all gone?

"Scouting. Optimus and Ratchet went to the Sahara desert to investigate an energon signal that they picked up and Arcee and Bumblebee are out driving around the other side of Jasper to keep an optic out for Decepticons." Bulkhead answered before motioning to the kids. "So, we get to watch everyone."

Cliff smiled and laughed. "Well, that just means that we get to have all of the fun."

While this was going on, I walked over to the kids where Miko was talking to the others about starting a band. "How about band practice?!" Miko suggested excitedly as she turned on her amp.

"But," Raf started while still holding his ears from the loud sounds Miko's amp was making. "we're not a band."

However, Miko seemed to be ready for that obstacle. "Why so anti-social?" She then walked over to Raf before continuing. "You play anything?"

Raf paused to think about that. "Um…" He must have thought of something because he then bent down and picked up his laptop. "Keyboard?" He asked her hesitantly.

Miko nodded in approval. "Laptops and samples. Good!" Her gaze then turned to me and I quickly surfed through the internet using my abilities, and I compared common music to what it would have been if I had grown up to be in my mid-thirties now. Thankfully, the music, while not from the generation I would have grown up with but still good, was only from a generation behind me. I knew exactly how I was going to answer her question to me. "What about you pops?"

Pops? That was not going to be allowed to stick no matter what. "First of all, it's Paul if you don't want to address me formally. Don't call me 'pops' again." I then straightened my shirt, and coincidentally using more of my power to learn how to play the instrument I was about to say, before continuing. " _If_ you must know, I can play a wicked bass. Left it at my hose in Jasper today though but I can bring it if you insist."

She stared at me with wide eyes and, for a click, I thought I broke her. But, that changed when she shook her head and smiled. "That's sweet Paul! Score for the old guy!" She then jumped for a high-five, which I gave her, and decided to let the old guy comment slide for now. Miko then turned to Jack. "Jack?"

He jumped slightly in what seemed like surprise, though how he didn't see that coming was a surprise to me, before he put a hand behind his head and answered. "I, sometimes mess around on the harmonica."

While I understood that was probably the only instrument he played, I knew that it wouldn't do for Miko. "Do I look like I do country?" She then paused to think. "Just cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming." She then turned and looked up at Bulkhead and Cliffjumper. "Bulkhead! Cliffjumper! Percussion!" She then held onto her guitar. "We'll go for a big industrial sound. DIY, we're a band." Miko then paused. "You just…need to learn the songs. This one's a ballad; My Fist, Your Face!"

I felt the vibration as she strummed the first few chords of the song and, while it didn't actually sound bad, I felt like this might be a little extreme to start new learners on. Unfortunately, she was so into her song that I doubted that she would hear me and the others were busy covering their ears and audio receptors.

Thankfully for them, the green light started flashing and I could faintly hear the alarm over Miko's playing. That meant that…crap.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Bulkhead stopped Miko as he and Cliffjumper started to look panicked.

A good thing for them that Miko heard him and stopped playing. "Come on. _You_ can't handle raw power."

Well, better get some talking in myself. "Proximity sensor's going off. We have to hide now."

The three kids went and hid behind Bulkhead's pede while I ran to Cliffjumper. I did not want to have to go through this but, by the looks of it, this was happening even throughout the changes. Seriously, the timeline decided that dark energon, one of the most important parts of the show, shouldn't make an appearance but I still have to deal with Fowler? Where in this world is that fair?

We all were hidden away just in time for the elevator to open and Fowler to come walking out. I had a feeling I knew why he was here. "Prime!" I then listened as Fowler's footsteps echoed on the platform and he gripped his hands on the support bar.

"Agent Fowler," Bulkhead started, "uh…he's not here. Nobody's here!" I facepalmed as Bulkhead said that. Of course there was someone else there. He was right next to you.

Thankfully, Cliffjumper caught that mistake quickly and tried to fix it. "Except the two of us of course."

I almost breathed a sigh of relief when Fowler seemed to miss the screw up. "Well, where did he go?" Before the bots could answer though, Fowler decided to go on a rant. "Wait, don't tell me. He's out pancaking a mini-mall?" Honestly, even though Lizzie thinks that sarcasm is a good thing, I wasn't so ready to agree in this situation.

Unfortunately, Fowler started to walk which caused Bulkhead to move to try and cover them which caused the cord to Miko's guitar, which she had and was still plugged in, to be pulled by Bulkhead's pede. "Scrap." I harsh whispered to myself. This was not going to be fun. Oh no it was not.

"Now, I don't know what language you 'Bots speak on your planet," Fowler continued. "but Prime promised he would handle the Decepticons, and blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska is not what the word 'handle' means in English!" Yeah, Fowler was not going to become and happier by this visit. "So, you tell prime..." Fowler then paused and I knew that retribution was about to come to the kids. Maybe if I was lucky, Cliffjumper wouldn't move and expose me as well. That would be very nice. "Since when are you bots electric?"

Well, scrap this was going to go downhill really fast.

"Hey," I facepalmed when Jack led the kids out in Fowler's view. While he did that in the show I never understood it. Why wouldn't you let the giant alien robots deal with the government agent that they have been dealing with for a while. "how are you doing?"

"Contact with civilians?!" Fowler yelled in shock as he started to come down the stairs.

It was also at that moment that I realized that Cliffjumper must have exposed me for I was standing in full view of the platform with no red bot near me. Thanks, Cliffjumper. Really appreciated that.

…I take back my earlier mental comment. Sarcasm could be a very useful stress reliever. "This should be fun." I muttered to myself as Fowler began his descent.

"Team Prime, has really gone off book this time." He then paused in his speech, though not his walking down to us, before he continued. "Wait, don't tell me…you're running a daycare center!"

Daycare center! I'm sorry but did I look like I needed a daycare center!? "I'm sorry would you care running that by me again?" I yelled at Fowler as he finally made it to our level and started to walk toward the kids and me.

My outburst seemed to cause everyone to freeze before Fowler walked up in front of me. "You look familiar, what name should I put down for the record when I haul you and the rugrats out of here?"

I glared down hard at him as I spoke. "I am Paul Riley Muskogee, CEO of Cyber Tronics Technologies and if you think that you are going to force me to do _anything_ you had better think again." I would not allow Fowler to control this argument no matter what.

A smirk ghosted on my face when Fowler actually looked surprised at my name. "Wait, you are the CEO of Cyber Tronics Technologies?" My victory, however, was short lived as he looked to grow even more angry. "This is just perfect! Not only have you bots involved regular civilians, but one of the governments largest suppliers of technologies! This is just _perfect_!" Of course, the perfect part was sarcastic.

Even I jumped when Cliffjumper put his pede down right by Fowler and me. "We can protect them just fine." He stated with a hard look.

Of course, Fowler didn't know when to back down. "Is that so?" He then turned to move toward the phone. "Well, maybe you can explain _that_ to _my_ superiors at the Pentagon?" He then went to pick up the phone.

But, Bulkhead was right on timing, thankfully, and broke the phone while saying, "Don't use that phone!" He then crushed it before standing back up straight.

"It's out of order." Cliffjumper added with a smirk on his faceplate.

Fowler looked at them both with hard looks before marching back up to the elevator. "This isn't over you two!" He then entered the elevator. " _Not_ by a long shot." The elevator then closed behind him.

The six of us stood there in a kind of daze at what had just happened. "This…isn't going to end well." I muttered to myself as I leaned against Cliffjumper's pede. With how things were changing, I was going to have to make sure that everything went right.

The base stayed quiet for about ten more minutes and, in those ten minutes, I felt like I could actually relax. There was no one arguing and, besides Miko playing her guitar, there wasn't a sound that was really getting to me. But, I didn't think Miko's playing was bad so I could let it go.

I got so into a zone that I even jumped when the alarms started blaring in the base again. Seriously they had to have that many alarms? "My ears!" Raf complained as the alarms kept on going.

So, being the responsible adult, I walked up to Raf and helped him cover them. All these loud sounds probably weren't helping his young ears at all. "It's an SOS," Cliffjumper started before he typed some things into the computer. "from Fowler?" He finished that last part in surprise.

He then tried to track Fowler but, given that he wasn't exactly a computer genius, the signal soon disappeared and Cliffjumper could only let out a sigh of resignation.

"Did you trace it?" Raf asked as he stepped forward, now able to hear since the alarms had gone off.

Both Cliffjumper and Bulkhead shook their helms before Bulkhead spoke. "Location scan was incomplete…oh well."

Even though I knew he said it in the show, I was still surprised that Bulkhead said that. " 'Oh well'? Are you being serious right now?" I asked him.

Bulkhead turned to look at me with a surprised look. "Fowler's a jerk! You know that Paul."

He was lucky that I just let out an annoyed sigh before going into my lecture mode. "It doesn't matter Bulkhead. Whether you like Agent Fowler or not, the Decepticons may have him."

Of course, Raf jumped in at that point with the important part. "And Agent Fowler knows your location…" He then gulped as what he just said came full turn in his mind. "Our location."

Thankfully, Miko then chimed in with her part. "And did we not just witness how fast Fowler backs down from a bot? The 'Cons will totally make him squeal!"

This could have turned out very bad for the Autobots in the regular timeline and I hoped that the timeline didn't change that much in this one so Fowler wouldn't talk here as well. But, with how my luck was going, that was wishful thinking.

"But we lost the transmission." Cliffjumper started as he stared at the monitors. "Fowler could be anywhere that the 'Cons can access."

And this was the cue for the child genius in the room. "Maybe I can narrow it down." He then sat on the floor in front of his backpack and opened his laptop before typing. "About five years ago, the government started microchipping their agents. You know, like owners do with pets." We all just stared at him in silence for a moment. Even though I was a deity, I was amazed by how much this youngling human knew. Eventually, he noticed that we were all silent and so he looked up at us. "What? I saw it on T.V."

"Remind me to watch more human television." I heard Cliffjumper mutter to Bulkhead, who nodded back.

"Anyway," Raf picked up. "if I can hack into the FEDS mainframe, maybe I can pinpoint Fowler's coordinates." He then continued to type on his computer. That was one smart twelve-year-old.

"You know how to hack?" Miko asked with a very impressed tone. Of course, if I was asking, I would have probably sounded just as impressed. "But you're like…two years old."

"Twelve." Raf immediately corrected before adding, "And a quarter." I was pretty sure that the quarter only made a difference to Raf. I was just impressed that a twelve-year-old was hacking into the government. Made me wonder where he learned it.

It was long before Raf had the coordinates on his computer screen and, to save time, I decided to read them off. "Latitude thirty nine point five, longitude one hundred sixteen point nine." At least that was the same as it was in the show.

Bulkhead then activated the bridge and stood there with Cliffjumper. "Okay, wait here." Bulkhead ordered us as he started to make his way through.

Miko was not too happy about this though. "Aw, don't break up the band!"

However, that wasn't going to work. What did happen, though, was Bulkhead turning to Jack. "Uh, Jack…you're in charge."

While I was a little irked at being passed over for being in charge, I was glad that he did because I had to get to the Nemesis. That ship had high enough shielding that Lizzie might possibly be there hiding in the air shafts or in one of the probably many abandoned rooms. I just had to go to the ship and look for her in the flesh. That meant that I was going to be sneaking out right behind Miko. Unlike her, however, I had to make sure that I did not get spotted by the Autobots until I could satisfy my search with either locating Lizzie or not.

I actually almost missed Miko moving to the bridge but, thankfully, I caught the sight of one of her pigtails moving out of my vision and I followed behind her. Once we were through the bridge, she went to the left while I moved to the right and behind Bulkhead and toward the Nemesis. I had to see if Lizzie was on there. She was my responsibility and I was not going to rest until I made sure that she was alright.

…If she was alright.

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"This is going to be good." I whispered as I sat between the twins, the exit vent of the ventilation shaft open in front of us to show the entertainment that was about to start below. Thankfully, once we got there, Starscream was already in there and we didn't have to wait long for the drones to escort Fowler in. It was strange that, with the acoustics of the ship, I could hear the shuffling of Fowler's feet against the metal floor distinctly from the pedesteps that were next to him.

Both of the twins nodded as Fowler fell on the floor and looked up at Starscream. "Welcome, Agent Fowler." Starscream greeted the special agent as he turned to the human. I had to admit while watching this that even chicken bot was a frag of a lot scarier than he had appeared while watching the show.

However, Fowler had to have some weird numbness to being scared of Cybertronians because he simply started to stand up and brushed off dirt from his shoulder while saying, "You treat all your guests this nice?"

It was a decent comeback but Starscream seemed to find it more amusing than anything for he chuckled, which was actually kinda scary, before saying, "Any friend of the Autobots."

Of course, Fowler just wasn't understanding what sort of danger he could be heading toward. With Megatron on this ship right now, and in command of this operation, he could come in and the interrogation could be far less pleasant than it was about to be with 'Scream. "Autobot? That one of them coin-operated wash-my-own-car places?"

In return, Starscream sent Fowler a glare before smirking. "Oh, so that's how it's going to be hmm? Apparently no one has told you I have little appreciation for human humor." Well, that changed slightly but it wasn't something that I had to stop the presses for. "Make our… _guest_ comfortable."

Starscream then went and stood to the side as the drones strapped Fowler up to the chains. While they did that, I turned to the twins and shook my head. "If Fowler keeps acting like this, then we are going to have an awesome show." I smirked widely as I waited.

Frenzy chuckled before saying, "Yeah, unlike you Fowler doesn't know when to suck up or, at the very least, shut up. I mean, if he's trying to get Starscream to tear him to shreds then he is going in the right direction."

I nodded and continued to watch as the drones finished chaining Fowler up and Starscream started his interrogation. "Agent Fowler, I have one simple request that will save your family the pain of grieving." Starscream circled around the dangling Fowler as he said this before he put a digit under Fowler's neck, which would probably act like a knife if enough pressure was applied to it, before he continued, "Tell me the location, of the Autobot base."

"No problem. But, I need to ask you something first." I saw the twins' jaws drop at that and I just stared ahead with wide eyes. While I knew that Fowler said something smart-afty in the regular time line, this was different. Would Fowler tell 'Scream the location?

Starscream, unlike in the show, looked skeptical of Fowler's reaction. "I'm listening human." Starscream stated with an unusually hard glare.

However, it seemed like Fowler was sticking to script. "I've got an issue with the customer service around here. Can I speak to the manager?"

Instead of getting angry, like he did in the show, Starscream chuckled to himself before responding. "Oh, trust me on this case human. You don't want me to do that. If I call Lord Megatron, he is sure to rip the information out of your fleshy body painfully. You would probably not live through it. If you tell me the location however, I might be able to convince Lord Megatron of your usefulness on the ship."

"You can't get me to say anything." Fowler spat back at 'Scream.

Seriously, Starscream was starting to freak me out and, at the same time, excite me as he stayed calm under the pressure and turned to one of the drones before saying, "Bring me the prod."

Now I found myself shaking again, and I was only slightly ashamed to admit that it was from excitement. Starscream didn't seem to be the touchy flighty thing that he was in the show and this was a terrifying yet likeable side of him that the show didn't touch on. Even though Starscream was one of my least favorite Decepticons in the Prime show, tied with Airachnid, I was finding myself really liking this new version of him.

A poke, that was a little too hard, coming from both sides on my shoulders had me look to each twin before Frenzy spoke. "Hey, are you okay? You're shaking."

I looked at my hands and, sure enough, they were shaking somewhat noticeably. Thankfully, I could tell them the truth…as sad as it was. "Yeah, I'm good. Just really excited about this interrogation. I want to see how Starscream works Agent Fowler to make him talk." If he talked. Hopefully, for the bit of story line that was still left at this point, I hoped that he wouldn't.

But, I never liked Fowler in the beginning of the show anyways. He was a jerk to everyone and he had an ego that matched the stereotype of Americans and it was really annoying. Honestly, I was probably enjoying this torture session a little too much and it hadn't even started yet.

We all stayed quiet as Starscream continued to interrogate Fowler, though this time he had the prod in his servo. "I'll ask nicely one last time Agent Fowler. Where is the Autobot base?"

But, like in the show, Fowler was too stubborn to quit. "Sure thing buddy. Right after you eat my star-spangled shorts!"

Stupid Fowler. I know he wasn't supposed to tell where the base was but did you have to answer like that? I mean come on, you were almost asking to be electrocuted with the prod. Kinda annoying really but it was going to make a great show for the three of us.

When the prod came on, and the purple electricity flowed between the prongs, I felt myself mesmerized by the glow. It was one of my weaknesses. When I saw something that glowed I tended to stare at it for a long time. However, this time wasn't nearly as long as normal as I noticed Fowler's eyes get really big. I think he was realizing what sort of situation he was really in. Starscream touched the prod to Fowler and, as sad as it was, I smirked slightly when I heard Fowler's screams. He really had to learn to talk to giant robots respectfully and this was probably going to be the fastest way to do it.

Starscream was smirking as well as he spoke in a cold and chilling tone of voice. "As I imagined. Electricity and human nervous systems don't mix."

I got a shiver down my spine as Starscream's smirk stayed. Wow. I never thought I would say this, but I was actually admiring Starscream right now. Even with the changes that happened through the interrogation, I found myself in awe of him…something that I thought hell would have to freeze over twice for.

As Starscream moved the prod back toward Fowler, I smirked wider. This was not the end by far.

No…this was only the beginning.

* * *

 **Authoress: *smirks* Oh, this is going to be loads of fun. *chuckles***

 **Paul: *nods* It will be if I can find my employee on this ship. She has been missing for too long and I must find her.**

 **Cliffjumper: Don't worry Paul, we'll find her eventually. This story needs her so, no matter where she is, you know that eventually she is going to show up.**

 **Authoress: *smiles* Thank you Cliff. However, I did say that I was changing things and that sometimes means more than just story plot. *walks off***

 **Cliffjumper and Paul: *yell* What does that mean?**

* * *

 **AN: And here is yet another chapter of this story! I am very excited to be moving through this so quickly and exploring all of the changes that are being made. Some are small changes but others are quite large. I wonder if anyone has spotted them all so far? Anyways, it seems like Paul and Fowler definitely got off on the wrong foot while Lizzie has been getting to know her knew shipmates while trying to stay alive. Plus Fowler is on the Nemesis and his tor...interrogation has, as Lizzie thinks, only just begun. (She really didn't like Fowler in the beginning episodes and that seems to be showing now).**

 **So, next chapter is going to be having Paul trying to look around the Nemesis for Lizzie with some Lizzie scenes as well. Can't say much more on the subject so, if you all could, please leave a review, even if it is to say hello! I like hearing from you all and it makes me feel like I'm not just writing this for the thin air. I do love writing this and I won't stop for anything, but it is nice to know that others are reading this. Thank you all who have reviewed if I haven't thanked you yet! Well, that's all for me now. TTYL! *makes plans to tease readers more***


	4. A Fruitless Endeavour

**AN: I only own my OCs. XD**

* * *

 **Authoress: Hey, you all see this?**

 **Lizzie: *walks up* What is it?**

 **Rumble: *curious* I want to see!**

 **Authoress: *shows strange book to them* Look at this! It's a...**

 **Lizzie: *grabs book* No way they are reading this! *runs***

 **Frenzy: Hey! We wanted to read that!**

 **Rumble and Frenzy: *run after her***

 **Authoress: *smiles* Oh this is going to be fun!**

* * *

Ch. 3: A Fruitless Endeavour

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

As soon as I exited the ground bridge, I wasted little time in moving toward the Nemesis. Thankfully, Bulkhead and Cliffjumper were on my left and scouting out the ship as well or they might have seen me. Even though we were in a canyon there weren't many rocks for human sized beings to hide behind. Oh well. The only thing that I really know is that I need to get to the Nemesis immediately! This was the only place I could think of that Lizzie could be and, by Creation, I was not going to leave a single grain of sand unturned to make sure that I found Lizzie. She was only here because of me.

If it wasn't for me, she would be living her normal life, happy with her mother, and probably working at the zoo. That was the first application that I had to influence to make sure that she wasn't hired. I had influenced hundreds of her job applications, though I honestly lost track and started having Micronus and Nexus work on stopping those, to make sure that no one hired her. I wanted to hire her for this mission and I didn't want her to have obligations to another place of hire before I brought her here.

However, I needed her to keep on applying for jobs and filling out those applications. They revealed so much of her to me that I felt like I knew her ever before we officially met. I knew that she liked cinnamon on her toast in the morning, loved to eat meat, and absolutely hated the color pink. She also didn't like snakes…though I didn't understand why. She had even underlined that on her application to the zoo. She could pick up spiders and salamanders without a second thought but, bring out any kind of snake and she was done. I couldn't find anything that would tell me why she hated snakes but I would ask her once I found her.

After a few minutes of walking, I arrived at the hatch to enter the Nemesis. Finally. Now I just had to find Lizzie. She had to be somewhere on this ship…she just had to be. The thirteen Primes and I were looking everywhere for her and, surprisingly, the Nemesis was one of the few places that we didn't have access. It was probably due to the Decepticon closeness to my brother. I mean, Megatron was going to control the substance that made up Unicron's energon.

…And, as I made my way down the Nemesis halls, that worry came to the forefront of my brain. There was still no sign of dark energon. Maybe after we got back from this mess, Ratchet and Optimus would mention about the battlefield where Megatron would have risen an undead troop to mess with Ratchet and Optimus. If we didn't have dark energon…everything about this timeline was going to be thrown to the Pit and I just hoped that we could recover from it. As much as I hated the substance and what it was doing to my actual chassis, we needed it so we could awake my brother and put an end to this war. It was strange to think about but…for some reason, we needed my brother's dark substance to guarantee an end to this war between my creations.

The sound of pedesteps very close to me caused me to pause. Looking to my left, I felt my eyes widen when I saw two vehicons walking along side me, one of them holding Jack and Raf. Frag it! This wasn't good at all. If I was here now, and those two bots where here now, then…

Engines revving cut through the air and, before I could even think on running, Bumblebee sideswiped the two vehicons. That hit caused the one vehicon to release Jack and Raf into the air. If the two humans would have hit the ground, then they could have been seriously hurt. Thankfully, Arcee was on point and transformed in midair before she slid to a stop on her knees and caught them.

"Bumblebee!" Raf called out to his guardian. I could hear the relief in the young boy's voice.

And of course, the same relief was in Bumblebee's response. _"Raf! You're okay!"_

"We appreciate you three clearing the front door for us." Arcee started with a strangely pointed look at me. What? I didn't tell them to come after me. I just followed Miko here and was doing some personal work. "But," Arcee continued. "storming the Decepticon warship was _not_ on the activities list."

Not on _your_ activity list. This thought rang into my helm as Jack seemed to agree with his guardian. "Tell me about it."

I shook my head and decided to just keep my mouth shut for now. I needed to stay calm and, more importantly, I needed Arcee to forget that I was here so I could sneak off again and try to find Lizzie. I didn't waste this time to sneak on board the Nemesis just so they could stop me from trying to locate Lizzie.

A sound echoed through the hall that caused all of us to flinch before Arcee motioned forward. "Let's move."

The three of us nodded and started to run ahead. Thankfully, I was in pretty good shape for a part of a being that was in stasis lock on Cybertron. Really. I kept up with the kids just fine and I knew that this wasn't the time to escape. The bots would notice now if I suddenly went missing from the group and that could cause some damage to the time stream. It was already so damaged as it was and I did not want to mess with any more than I had to.

After a few minutes of running, Arcee suddenly stopped and primed her blaster. This was when we would run into Bulkhead, and now probably Cliffjumper too, along with Miko. It was a good thing that I knew this because, if it wasn't them…then I would be nervous. Of course, with how events were playing out that might just happen.

Arcee turned to corner on a dime and, thankfully, I felt relief at the next words out of her mouth. "Friendly!"

"Hello!" Was Bulkhead's immediate response.

Then, as we all came around the corner, Cliffjumper looked down and I saw his optics widen when they landed on me. "Paul? What are you doing here? I figured you were actually behaving back at base." He then sulked slightly.

I just smiled for now. No need to explain to the Autobots why I was here. "Brought the humans huh?"

" _You_ try getting them to stay behind!" Bulkhead said with a motion toward Miko.

Thankfully, everything now seemed to be running smoothly. I would have to be careful just in case something did change. I couldn't afford to screw up and that meant that I had to figure out when I was going to try and lose the Autobots so I could continue my search for, "Paul…what were you doing on the Nemesis?"

At Jack's question, all eyes and optics were focused solely on me. Thanks a lot Jack. Absolutely no brownie points were being earned for you here. I could see that the Autobots were waiting for an answer and I knew that, if I didn't want to mess the show up anymore, that I would have to explain myself. Frag this was tedious. "If you must know, I am a very active CEO in my company. I make it a point to learn the names of all of my employees and what they are like. In a sense, I guess I like to befriend my staff. My staff follows under me and so I am responsible for them at all times. When I heard that there was a chance to search a new place for my employee, I didn't hesitate to follow behind Miko, Bulkhead, and Cliffjumper through the bridge." I crossed my arms before saying, "I did not ask any of you to follow me."

Miko and Cliffjumper looked understanding but Arcee shook her helm and, thankfully, got back on schedule. "We need to find Fowler and get these kids out of here." Oh, I know that she didn't just call me a kid. Because if she called me a kid…then we were going to have some major issues.

Thankfully for her, before I could get a word out against being called a kid, Raf and Jack came to Fowler's somewhat rescues. "Uh…" Everyone looked at the two before they spoke in tandem. "He's in the brig."

And right after that, it seemed like we were running again…The Autobots sure liked to run a lot of places. Lizzie would be happy that she wasn't in this situation right now. Even though she was physically in shape, Lizzie had said plenty of times in her private messages on FanFiction that she did not like to run…at all.

Thankfully, or maybe not so much, a group of drones intercepted us and the bots started to go complete battle royal on them all. It was hard to keep track of who hit which drone but, in short, they were dropping like flies. It was kinda sad how easy the drones were to take out. Just a couple of shots and they were done for the count.

Of course, the fighting just kept coming when we found a side room and our Autobot guardians decided to take it over as a safe room for us. More blaster fire followed and, for a nano-click, I thought about sneaking away now. But, from the look that I was getting from Cliffjumper, I had a feeling that route was a no-go for now. Scrap I think he caught onto me already. That meant that, more than likely, I was not going to continue my search.

…Frag it!

"Clear." Arcee confirmed the room's status as she put away her blaster, and the other bots did as well. Scrap my life this was not going how I wanted it too. I was supposed to just sneak on board and make sure that Lizzie was not here. But, that didn't seem like it was going to happen today. Once us humans were allowed inside, the bots walked up to us before Arcee continued to speak. "Wait in here."

" _Wait, aren't we supposed to watch them?"_ Bumblebee asked and, secretly, I hoped that he won the argument this time. That would mean that the bots would have to take us when they went to get Fowler and that would mean more of a chance for me to look for Lizzie.

However, it seemed like Arcee was not going to back down. "They'll only slow us down and they are easy targets." She then transformed her right servo into her blaster before continuing. "They'll be alright in here…as long as they stay put." She then went to walk around us.

Cliff nodded at that. "That means all of you." He gave me and Miko a very pointed look at that. Well, the one positive I was seeing out of this was that this would give me a better ally in Miko.

When the bots ran out of the room, I immediately went to run after them. However, I only got a couple of steps when the doors closed in front of me. Frag it all! I couldn't open the doors now since the humans were here to see and that meant that I was stuck in here with them. At least I could take a click to think about when I was going to have another chance to get on the Nemesis. Going through each episode from the show, I figured that my best bet of getting on the Nemesis…and also being able to be retrieved with slight ease, would be when Megatron took control of Bumblebee to get back to his body. While that was quite a-ways off, it was the closest that I could figure I would be to get on here again with an escape plan.

"That…" Miko started while turning to look toward me. "…was intense!"

I nodded in agreement with her. Yes, it was very intense for the humans at this point in the timeline. However, I knew that the battles were going to be even more intense as the timeline progressed. There would be fights with Skyquake, Breakdown and Knockout, Megatron, and all of the other Decepticons.

However, while I was in agreement with her…there were two who were not so much. "Was?" Raf asked her incredulously. Of course, it still was intense since we were still on the Nemesis.

Jack, on the other hand, had a different thing to say to Miko. "It's your faults that we are stuck in this 'intensity'! What were you two thinking?" Wait…he was trying to lecture _me_? Oh, that was so unwise.

"Did we ask you to follow us?" Miko asked him as I stood next to Miko. I was an adult and Miko was old enough to make decisions on her own.

Of course, Jack wasn't done yet. " _You_ wanted us to be a band." He pointed that one directly at Miko. "Doesn't that usually mean playing together?" Wait…he couldn't be against the band idea before and now try and use it against her. That was hypocrisy!

"Well…" Miko started with her hands on her hips. That was a sign that she was probably not going to back down. "Maybe I decided to go solo."

Jack crossed his arms and tried to appear tall before saying, "Well, maybe I have some regard for both of your safety." Right. Like I really needed that as an adult? And they wondered why June was such a helicopter mom later on. Well this should have been the first hint to that.

"Oh! I'm sorry," Miko started sarcastically. "is your name _Optimus_? You can leave my protection to Bulkhead thank you very much!"

While I would have enjoyed watching this continue on, Raf didn't seem to like to see his friends fighting. "Ah! Stop it! All of you!" And there went any pride that I had in myself. I just got yelled at by a twelve-year old. And…he was right. This wasn't the time to be arguing with each other.

I ran over to where the boy went and sat and took the seat next to him before hugging his shoulders. "Hey, everything is going to be alright." I said in a comforting way. He looked up at me before I continued. "Trust me."

"Yeah," Miko agreed as she sat down next to me and Jack sat on the other side of Raf. "we'll be fine."

Jack nodded. "Our bots will come back for us." He probably realized that Raf was worried about 'Bee as well.

Again, Miko nodded her agreement. "Yeah. They're going to take us home."

Unfortunately, that didn't help as much as it should have. "How do you know?"

While it was out of script, I couldn't stand by and let him feel down. "We know because we trust in the bots. They have protected us so far and they care about us a lot." I then looked up and noticed that the space bridge schematics were up on the screen. That would be perfect! "Hey Raf…what do you make of that?"

That caused Raf to look up and I practically saw his mind start working in overdrive as he hopped down from the ledge that we were sitting on to get a closer look. Once he got close enough, and the rest of us joined him, Raf told us his opinion of the schematics…which were spot on. "It's important…real important."

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

An hour. That was how long I was sure that we had been watching Starscream interrogate Fowler and I still couldn't believe that I was here not only watching this interrogation take place…but oddly finding satisfaction in the scene. There really had to be something wrong with me. It also didn't help me much that I was hearing 'What a Wonderful World' every time that Fowler got shocked. I seriously had something wrong in my head.

"My dear Agent Fowler." I payed attention as Starscream began to speak. He was half of the show itself and I didn't want to miss anything that he said. "You do realize…the Autobots have abandoned you." He then let out a chuckle before saying, "I am the only one that you can rely upon now. So…tell me what I want to know or…" He then held up the prod before, to my surprise, he continued. "Or, if that fails to work, then I can always turn you over to my…illustrious leader. I'm sure he will be able to get the information out of you though I can promise that he will be far less…forgiving, than me."

Holy slag. Starscream was scaring the scrap out of me and I had never even imagined that he could be this scary. Fragging timeline. If this was normal, then I would simply have to relax and enjoy watching Starscream try and look intimidating. But, this was hard core fear factor here.

Fowler's reaction was immediate. "Please…no more." He sounded tired and I knew that this was taking its toll on the Agent. "Their secret…government base…" Unlike in the show, Starscream did not turn off the prod and held it there as Fowler continued to egg him on. This Starscream was…dare I say it…smart!

"Go on…" Starscream encouraged the Agent with a hint of disbelief in his voice. I didn't blame the seeker for reacting like that…especially if what was bound to happen would happen.

And of course, with the sound of blasters being heard down the hall…it did. "…In the old steel mill." He then paused and had a slight smirk before he continued. "Or was it under that old carnival fun house?"

Starscream did not like that answer and growled before he shocked Fowler quite a few times. Frag it Fowler it was always better to just keep your mouth shut then antagonize the giant alien robot with a electric prod.

Now, Starscream turned his attention to the matter outside. "Someone find out what is going on out there!" Two vehicons who were standing guard at the door nodded before the ran out to, what I knew was, their offlining.

"So, what do you think is going on out there?" I asked Frenzy and Rumble in a whisper.

They both looked at me before Rumble spoke. "Well, if I had to guess, I bet it would be the Autoscum coming here to rescue their human agent. Don't know why they would though. He seems like he is really annoying."

Before I could give Rumble the reason, Frenzy helm slapped him before saying, "Dude, it's because he knows the location of their base. If he would have squealed to 'Scream, then we would be attacking their base right now."

That was exactly right. Good job Frenzy! Hanging out with them was going to be awesome and I knew that this was the start of a beautiful friendship. So, I nodded. "Exactly. Starscream needs to get that information out of Fowler quickly before the Autobots get here."

Thankfully, it seemed like Starscream knew that as well. "Wake up you pathetic lump of flesh!" Fowler didn't take the last round of electricity too well and now he was out of it.

That was proven to be even more true when he somewhat woke up. "Grandma…is it cookie time?"

Immediately my palm found my forehead. "Do I have to claim that I'm the same species as him?" I mean seriously…either Fowler was an idiot or Starscream must sound like his grandma…which would be creepy as all hell.

Both Rumble and Frenzy patted my back, and this time they didn't put as much pressure as when they poked me earlier. It was still a little hard but they seemed to be learning human body limitations to comfort. "Nah! You're the Decepticon's human now! That means you are way better than he is!" Frenzy tried to comfort me.

But, the only thing that would register in my head when he said that was that I was the property of the Decepticons. Great. Guess I was really the human pet now. What was next? I guide book on how to take care of me?

Thankfully, I couldn't go deep into my thoughts as a knock sounded from the other side of the door. I knew exactly what was going to happen and sighed. Megatron was not going to be a happy camper about this. Not at all.

When the door opened, a lone drone was seen standing there. "Well?" Starscream asked him…though he didn't seem as harsh as he was during the show. This was really changing and I was so going to be killing Paul once the fragging god decided to contact me. I mean…what was he doing? Laying on some beach in Tahiti sipping on a coconut drink with a little umbrella in it?

Starscream got his answer when Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Cliffjumper came in all aimed their blasters at him. "Let Fowler go!" Bulkhead demanded off script.

Cliffjumper nodded and added, "And where's the girl?"

Aw! I felt loved by the Autobots. But, I was going to be staying here so I kept my mouth shut. I could see, out of the corner of my eyes, that Rumble and Frenzy were studying me hesitantly. They knew that I was technically here against my will and it would have been nothing to yell out where I was. But, I had been accepted into at least a part of their fold already and I wasn't going to ruin that because the Autobots wanted to 'save' me.

Starscream activated his blaster and aimed it at Fowler. "Not so fast Autobots." Starscream warned them. The threat was definitely there and, with how Starscream had been acting so far, that threat was a very _real_ threat. Hopefully things didn't change or we would be seeing Fowler bits fly all over the room. That wouldn't be good.

However, a ping on the top of Starscream's helm had the seeker looking up, as did we, and we saw Arcee hanging above him with her blaster pointed toward his helm. You would think that the Autobots had the advantage but, since Starscream had his blaster pointed at Fowler, he was even up with them. "I wouldn't." Arcee warned him.

Starscream, however, was about to say my favorite line of his in the entire show…and he talked a lot so he had a lot of lines. "Oh, but I might."

The twins high fived each other at that one and I smiled. "Score to Starscream for savage comeback." Rumble said.

I nodded and high fived the twins as well before saying, "Definitely. Go 'Scream!" Well, it was whispered but the point was there.

Starscream then continued but, as he did, I noticed that the twins seemed to straighten up slightly. My best guess was that they were getting a message from Soundwave. "Now, Agent Fowler and I will take our leave."

While I wanted to hear Fowler's response, the twins decided at that point to talk with me. "Boss says that we need to get to him now. Don't want to take anymore of a risk that the Autobots might see us. That wouldn't be good at all." Rumble started.

Frenzy nodded at that. "Yeah. Too bad we can't see how this is going to end."

As soon as Frenzy said that, the Autobots started to shoot at Starscream and I knew that this was our best time to move. So, the three of us stood up and made our way through the vent and I followed the twins to Soundwave's location. As we moved toward Soundwave's location, I couldn't help but think about what had just happened. There had been a chance to get with the Autobots, and maybe connect with Paul, and I had turned it down. I _chose_ to stay on this ship where I knew my life was on the line each and every second. Who knew? Right now a stray blaster shot could hit the vent we were walking in and, while the twins might be sad for a little, I wouldn't be missed.

…So why the frag didn't I leave?

It took us about fifteen minutes to get to Soundwave, who was on the bridge with Megatron, Starscream, and some of the drones. Guess the Autobots were already gone. But, that made me worried. The next scene that the show had shown was Starscream getting pounded by an angry dark energon infused Megatron for delaying his plans. But, this time the plan had been Megatron's. So, where was the episode going to go from here.

"My plans have been delayed!" Megatron growled as we came to the open vent and sat on the edge. I noticed that Soundwave took a quick glance up at us before he nodded slightly and returned his gaze toward Megatron.

Starscream nodded at that and typed a few things into the monitor that he was facing. "Yes. It seems that the Autobot Bulkhead destroyed our interstellar navigation satellite. We will need to repair it before we can proceed."

Megatron sent a glare at Starscream and growled before he paced around the room. "This will not do. Optimus could receive reinforcements at any time and, if we do not have our space bridge in working order, then we cannot move forward!" He let out a yell before he slammed his fist against the console.

I waited a few clicks for someone to say something about the satellite array. I figured that, in the show, Starscream had been the one to mention it to the angry Megatron. But, since Starscream hadn't come up with this plan, he didn't have any sort of compensation to offer Megatron. Great. That meant that, if I wanted to try and keep things going on pace, that I was going to have to open my big mouth.

So, I let out a sigh. "I think I can help with that."

Every single set of optics snapped up toward me and, all of a sudden, I felt very nervous. I didn't like being the center of attention and, of course, here I was…bright as day the focal point of the room. Soundwave walked up to us and held up his servo, allowing the three of us to jump down, and he moved the twins to his left servo before walking me up to the big bot himself. "You? I doubt that you could do much to repair my satellite in any reasonable time." Megatron questioned me.

Knowing that I had to answer quickly, I nodded in response to his reasoning. "You're right. With how small and weak I am I couldn't possibly even dream of hoping to help repair your satellite. But, with what I have planned, you won't need to repair it."

Megatron raised an optic ridge at that and seemed to study me, which was pretty unnerving, before he spoke. "And just what could you have planned that could put my operation back on schedule without the use of our interstellar navigation satellite? A human satellite would not be able to generate enough power to come close to guiding the space bridge to Cybertron."

I nodded at that, though I was extremely nervous about talking with Megatron like this. "Of course they wouldn't. Your technology is far superior to our own. But, let me ask you this; have you ever heard of the giant size array in Texas?"

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I shook my head as I watched Bulkhead and Bumblebee leave the base with the two remaining kids…for now. I didn't understand what Jack was thinking. While it was true that being with the Autobots was a danger to humans like us, it was much safer than being without an Autobot if the Decepticons tried to take you. Then, I knew that he would be wishing to be with the Autobots. Plus, it wasn't the Autobots' fault that humans saw them fighting. Actually, I was kinda impressed that it hadn't happened before now.

"Optimus!" I jumped when Ratchet suddenly yelled that. I knew that he was going over the data that was on the picture Miko took but I didn't think that he would be done analyzing it so soon.

Cliffjumper and Optimus walked over, since Arcee had to take care of something in the energon storage room, before Cliff tried to peek at what Ratchet was doing. "What's up doc?"

Ratchet, in turn, glared at Cliff before turning to Optimus. "These…are engineering specs for a space time vortex generator."

We all knew what that meant…even if the Autobots didn't know that I knew that. "Megatron's building a space bridge." Optimus then paused and thought deeper before saying, "If they haven't already."

And of course, I knew that they had. But, I was still worried. When we got back from the Nemesis, and my search for Lizzie turned out to be a fruitless endeavor, I grew worried when Optimus and Ratchet did not mention a fight with Cybertronian undead…or even that they saw Megatron. Dark energon was supposed to have made an appearance by now. Since it hadn't I was worried about what Megatron had planned for the space bridge now. What I did know, though, was that it could not be good.

"The sooner he leaves the better."

I jumped when Bulkhead's voice suddenly sounded behind me. How did big bots sneak around like that? It should be an impossibility. Hopefully I would be able to get used to it. That was especially with what I was going to be asking the Autobots once this scene played out.

"Bulkhead," Optimus started. "a space bridge runs in two directions. Megatron may not be using it to leave Earth…but what he plans on doing with it remains unknown. Whatever the case may be, though, we cannot allow him to use it."

Scrap everything to the Pit! This had changed so much already and it was because of fragging dark energon not being around! The Autobots were going to have to go to the space bridge blind to what Megatron's plans were. That could change the outcome of this entire beginning and I knew that I couldn't allow that to happen. "Excuse me…Optimus?" All of the Autobots turned to me as I got their leader's attention. "While I am here, and my employee remains to be missing, I was wondering if I could perhaps stay somewhere here in the base? I have no plans for the future while I am here in Jasper and this would save you some Energon. I would just need to go home to get food sometimes."

Ratchet looked like he wanted to argue but, whatever argument he was going to make was made moot by Optimus nodding. "Yes, for the time being you may stay here. I believe that there are rooms down the right side corridor that will fit you. Cliffjumper," Optimus turned his attention to my guardian. "Take Paul home and help him pack what he will need for his stay here."

Cliff nodded and transformed before opening his passenger door to me, his soliform already in the driver's seat. "Guess I'll be seeing a lot more of you now." Cliff commented to me as he started to drive out of the base.

"Yeah…I guess you will." I answered him back, though my mind was already starting to wander. I wanted to try and reach Lizzie…wherever she was. Since I had been on the Nemesis I was hoping that would allow me to make a connection to Lizzie. But, as I pushed the boundaries of my mind, I realized that I was still not able to find her. This was extremely frustrating! I knew that she wasn't dead, because I would be able to find her body and no one could stop me. But, where could she be?

I glanced out of Cliff's window and found myself staring up at Earth's moon. It was strange. I had moons of my own and yet I never could stop looking away from this one. It was strange that something that came from my brother could be so…beautiful. It almost didn't seem right. Of course, I really couldn't say much. Even though Lizzie came from a different Earth, while she was living here she came from my brother as well. Humanity came from my brother. Such a strange species but, at the same time, such a unique species. They were just like my own creations even though they were born from Chaos while my own creations were born from order.

"Hey Paul…you alright?" Cliffjumper asked me as he drove into town.

Looking around, still coming out of my daze, I nodded a few times. "Yeah I'm alright. Just…a lot of things on my mind."

* * *

 **Paul: Um...Authoress?**

 **Authoress: *curious* Yes Paul?**

 **Paul: *points to story* Two things. First...*yells*WHERE IS THE DARK ENERGON?**

 **Authoress: *shrugs* You're asking the wrong person. I have no control of this story. I'm just writing things as they happen.**

 **Paul: *irritated eyebrow twitch* Well then let me ask you something that I _know_ you know. *pauses* *yells* WHERE IS LIZZIE? **

***Silence***

 **Cliffjumper: *Walks in* Hey Paul. I just saw Authoress running down the hall. Do you know why?**

 **Paul: *anger oozing out of him* *yells* Authoress where is she!? *runs after Authoress***

 **Cliffjumper: *confused* What am I supposed to do now?**

* * *

 **CN: Um...okay. This is Cliffjumper. I'm not sure what that was all about but, since the chapter is done, I figured that I would give this to all of you. So, I'm pretty sure that the Authoress hopes that you enjoyed this...though Paul obviously didn't. From what i got to see, it looked like there is a lot of stuff going down. Of course, I've been reading the past set of these 'notes' and I haven't noticed that anything seems changed or off. Maybe they are just losing their minds? Human minds do deteriorate after a while...right?**

 ***shakes helm* Anyways, I guess the Authoress would like to hope that you enjoyed this and that you...um...*tries to think of word*...*thinks of word* review! That's it! I think she will want you to review to let her know how you like her recording of our lives right now. Since I don't know where Paul and the Authoress is...I guess that is all. *waves* See you all later! *walks out of room to try and find Authoress and Paul***


	5. Mission is Go

**AN: I only own my OCs. One belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Lizzie: *takes break from running twins* Authoress...**

 **Authoress: *curious* Yes Lizzie?**

 **Lizzie: When am I going to see Paul again? There is so much happening and I think it would be wise to at least get in touch with him.**

 **Authoress: *shocked* Wow Lizzie...you actually made a good point. *twins running up and Authoress runs***

 **Lizzie: *flames coming out of eyes* Authoress you are dead! *chases after all Authoress while being chased by twins***

* * *

Ch. 4: Mission is Go

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"We cannot allow Megatron to use this space bridge for whatever purpose he has spent this time on." Optimus started as everyone besides Arcee was gathered around. While Raf and Miko seemed awake, I was anything but. My night was rough and full of worry for Lizzie. Thankfully, I had eventually fallen into sleep and the Primes had taken over my constant search for Lizzie. Alchemist Prime and Onyx Prime took over for me and were scouring what they could see in hopes of finding her.

"Optimus." Ratchet said, drawing all of our attentions to him. "I've pinpointed the location of Megatron's space bridge…high in Earth's orbit." That…wasn't' good. Well it wasn't good for them. I, on the other hand, was just happy that the timeline seemed to be running even with the absence of dark energon. But that still left the question as to what was going to happen at the space bridge.

Optimus stepped forward at that. "Out of our reach."

Miko was standing by Bulkhead's pede and, understandably, didn't understand exactly what they were meaning. "Okay, so you guys don't fly…" She then motioned to the ground bridge. "But can't you just groundbridge there?"

It took a lot of restraint to shake my helm at that. But, if I did, then I would have to make up an excuse as to why I was an I was running low on ideas since I was still half asleep.

Thankfully, Ratchet stepped right in and explained. "A groundbridge has limited range. Stretched all the way into orbit it's vortex could snap." He then slightly paused. "And scatter us to the stars."

From the look on Miko's face, I felt like she knew exactly what was going on now. The Autobots took a big chance in this episode and I could only hope that their luck would continue on to keep them safe. Earth was dependent on the Autobots, even though few on the planet knew that, and we could not afford them to be lost to the stars. It would take them months to return and, by that time, Megatron could take over the planet with his Decepticons.

…And I still needed to find Lizzie frag it!

"Since Megatron is likely already in transit," Optimus started, causing us to look at him, "I'm afraid we must take that risk." He then paused and all of us looked to the space bridge before he spoke again. "Reaching the space bridge first is our only means of stopping him." Yeah…whatever it was that Megatron was planning on doing now. I felt hopeless as we stared at the bridge.

I was so worried for the future that I barely registered Arcee's horn honking and it was only when she came to a stop that I realized that she had brought Jack back. That was another good sign that things might start to fix themselves. Who knew? Maybe Megatron was just waiting to use the dark energon here at the space bridge. That might explain what was going on. With Cliffjumper unexpectedly remaining online, Megatron might be waiting for the bridge to reveal the dark energon so Optimus and the others wouldn't know what to do about it.

"Hey," Jack started after he took off his helmet. "guess who's back?"

I felt kinda bad for the kid when no one really acknowledged his return but, to be fair to the Autobots, this was kind of a big deal right now. "Autobots, prepare for departure."

Arcee and Jack both looked confused. "Where to?" Arcee asked.

It was Miko who answered them…and quite nicely at that. "The final frontier."

"Space?" Jack asked, surprised. "I…I thought they didn't have any way to get there."

Bumblebee moved Raf off of his shoulder and, as he moved Raf to the ground, the young boy answered Jack. "They don't…not really."

That answer seemed to make jack realize just what the bots were risking and so he looked up at Arcee. "Be…seeing you?" Well, that sounded more like a question but I think Arcee got the point.

Arcee, in return, smiled and shrugged before she went to walk next to the others. As she did so, Ratchet walked up to the ground bridge controls and activated the bridge. It was amazing, watching the bridge come to life. It reminded me of just how advanced my children had become. They could travel across large distances in an instant.

"Be careful 'Bee?" I heard Raf ask his guardian and that snapped me out of my thoughts. We had to say goodbye to our guardians…just in case they didn't come back.

" _I'll be back Raf…don't worry."_ Bumblebee answered Raf.

Miko then looked up at Bulkhead with a smile on her face. "I'm so jealous!"

Bulkhead knew that look and held out a servo before shaking his helm. "Don't even think about following me." He then walked over to where Optimus was.

Pedesteps coming up behind me caused me to look up and I couldn't help but smile when I saw Cliff standing above me. "What? No teary goodbye for me or wishing me luck?" He let out with a laugh.

Shaking my head, I gave him what he wanted…somewhat. "I know better Cliff. You wouldn't let the 'Cons take you out like that. Just…make sure you come back alive…alright?" Yeah because even though I didn't know how you were alive now, I wanted to make sure that you stayed that way.

"Yes sir." Cliff laughed and gave me a mock salute before moving to the others to the bridge. Now I was worried again…but this time for Cliffjumper. I didn't know what caused him to live this time around and, if it was just a hiccup in the time stream due to my arrival as well as Lizzie's, then the time stream might try and correct itself here. That wouldn't be good at all.

"Optimus," Ratchet started toward his old friend. "if you leave me stranded on a planet teaming with humans…I will never forgive you."

…Well Ratchet, why don't you tell us how you really feel? Well, this was his way of wishing Optimus luck and I really couldn't say much. The best I could do was 'don't die'. Yeah, I was going to win a grammy for that for sure.

Sarcasm really was a beautiful thing.

"Until we meet again old friend." Optimus responded to Ratchet and, while I couldn't confirm it definitely, I thought that I saw Optimus smile when he first started talking. Well…maybe. The Prime then activated his battle mask before turning to those gathered around him. "Autobots! Roll out!" I then watched as they all transformed into the alt modes and, after a few seconds, they drove through the bridge.

Once they were through the bridge, Ratchet closed the bridge with a sigh of relief. Guess that meant that they made it through. There went the hard part. Now, they just had to figure out what Megatron was planning with the space bridge now that dark energon was not a factor…or at least wasn't one yet.

Ratchet moved to the main monitor and soon, the life signals of all five Autobots on the bridge were showing and, from the sound of Bulkhead losing his balance that we could hear, I was guessing that he opened a comm line with the five of them.

" _Keep your balance Bulk. Don't want to fall off here."_ I heard Cliffjumper say over the comm.

" _Easy for you to say."_ We could all hear Bulkhead grumble as, by the sounds of it, he got his footing.

All of us humans were on the scaffolding area for us and I felt nervous. What was the reason that Megatron would have the space bridge? I was just continuing to hope that Megatron would bring the dark energon to show now. That would be perfect. Then everything would get back on schedule and my life would be made easier.

" _Since we don't possess ready means of disabling the space bridge..."_ Optimus started before we all heard the sound of weapons being primed over the comm. " _Nothing gets in…or out."_

Of course, what would be coming out would be interesting. If, unfortunately, Megatron did not have dark energon available here, I would assume that he would be going to Cybertron for something. Maybe a relic of some sort that I haven't thought of. That might explain it. If Megatron was not focused on dark energon then he could be focused on increasing his weapon's supply. There were plenty of weapons that were left behind on Cybertron for the Decepticon leader to take advantage of.

There was an awkward silence on the other side of the line and, at first, I was wondering if the comm was even still active. My doubt was put to ease, though, with Arcee speaking. " _Well…what are they waiting for_?"

Again there was a pause and I knew that Optimus was studying the ship in front of them and, soon, would discover the dish that Bulkhead helped destroy. " _It appears the Decepticons have sustained serious damage to their interstellar navigation system."_

We all heard a metallic high five from our side before Cliff spoke. " _Yeah! That was our handiwork!"_

" _Great job Bulkhead. Cliffjumper. Without the dish, Megatron will be unable to aim the space bridge at Cybertron."_ Optimus congratulated the two before informing everyone else.

"Don't the Decepticon know where their own planet is?" Raf asked in confusion.

"Naturally." Ratchet responded in a tone that suggested that we should have known that. While I did know that, it wasn't the humans' fault that they didn't know the fine points of space bridge and ground bridge travel. "But Cybertron is many lightyears away. To reach their target their aim must be astronomically precise."

Yes, and one would think that would be impossible to accomplish with Earth technology. But, given that I ran a technologies corporation, I knew that it was possible…just not easy. " _If Megatron went to the trouble of rendezvousing with his space bridge…he must have an alternate targeting system. A remote one."_

Ratchet couldn't seem to believe what he was hearing because he let out a huff of disbelief. "From what I know of Earth's technology I doubt there would exist a single radio telescope dish on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron."

"While in theory you are correct." I started, causing everyone to look at me. I had to make sure that we got to Texas to try and prevent the space bridge from activating and getting the blueprints to destroy it. "Things on Earth tend to work better as a team then alone."

Raf, thankfully, caught on to what I was saying, "Like a whole bunch of linked radio telescope dishes." He then typed away on the computer in front of him before he brought up information on the place we needed to go. "Like the giant size array in Texas."

"Zip zip!" Ratchet immediately tried to scold Raf. "This is not child's play." Right. Child's play. I had seen this kid hack the government not too long ago so we could locate Agent Fowler and Ratchet thought that the kid was playing?

Thankfully, Optimus had his helm on straight. " _Good thinking Raf."_ Ratchet looked surprised that Optimus took Raf's side in this but didn't complain or argue. " _Ratchet, have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to the security hazard."_

We all looked over to where Fowler was laying on a gurney when Prime said that. And, like fate was working for once, Fowler bolted up into a sitting position. "You! Soldier! You're out of uniform! Put on some pants!" Fowler immediately fell back unconscious after he said that. Agent Fowler and electrical shocks did not mix very well at all.

Ratchet shook his helm before responding to Optimus. "That…may be a challenge."

Immediately, Raf went back to the computer and, while I couldn't read everything that was flying on the screen, I realized that the young kid was trying to hack into the array network. Unfortunately for him, my company here helped set up the security program for the array and that meant that we would have to be on sight to access their computer network.

…What? I had to have my company have some works done when I made them exist here. You just can't be the government's main technology supplier and not have any projects done. Plus…I had to make sure that we went to the array in person.

"I can't get passed the array's firewalls. They're too thick!" Raf stated with annoyance before he slammed his fists down net to the keyboard.

Ratchet was just being surprised too much today. I think his processor was going to overload. "You…actually think you could keep the Decepticons out?" Of course, the disbelief was heavy in the old medic's vocals.

Raf didn't sound nearly as confident as he should have when he answered. "Maybe…if I could get in."

"Hold on Raf." I said before anyone could say anything. They all looked at me as I walked over to him. "What if I could get you all the way in? I'm talking about in the building in."

Now, Raf sounded more confident when he answered. "I could log into their internal network on the other side of the firewall."

However, now Optimus was starting to work against us…which was good in a timeline standing. " _The risk is too great. The Decepticons will be there. Perhaps even on site."_

"Optimus," Jack started. I figured I would let him have some of his lines. "with all due respect, you said it yourself. This is bigger than the safety of four humans."

"Yeah!" Miko chimed in with agreement. "If we let the 'Cons win, we're fragged." Where did she alredy pick up their cursing!? This was so not helping my mental state any.

I then took over Miko's line. "Us, along with every other person on our planet."

There was a pause on the other side and I knew that Optimus was thinking deeply about this. " _Raf?"_

We all looked down at Raf for a few seconds before the young boy nodded confidently and answered. "I want to give it a shot."

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I gulped silently to myself as I sat on Starscream's shoulder. Right now, we were on the bridge and the screens were showing that someone…Raf…was messing with the Decepticon connection to the space bridges. While I knew that was what was supposed to happen I hoped that things stayed on track and they wouldn't succeed. Since it was me and my brilliant self who suggested that we use the array in Texas, then it was my aft on the line should the plan fail.

My mind instantly made a connection to later on when Cylas would fail his mission and be tortured by Knockout. Plus, since the good doctor wasn't here, then that meant that it would probably be Megatron who would be tearing me to shreds. I just had to hope and pray with all the luck that I had stored that the show stayed on track and Soundwave cut the hard lines so the humans wouldn't interfere anymore.

…Wait…humans? What was going on with my mind right now. I am a human and so that really just sounded off.

When the console in front of us started to beep, I looked down and felt an immense wave of relief and satisfaction hit me. I knew what that meant even if I couldn't read Cybertronian. That was a very good sign for me. I would so be living another day!

"Now Starscream?" Megatron questioned the mech who I was sitting on…the mech who, in a sense, saved my life.

It felt weird when Starscream started to chuckle darkly at that before he spoke. "Now." He then pushed a button and I watched in fascination as the space bridge lit up in a brilliant blue color. Frag I liked glowing lights too much. I found myself staring at it in a sort of trance.

However, the sound of the door opening caused me to turn just in time to see Megatron walk out of the room and the door close behind him. Where was he going? There wasn't any dark energon for him to throw. For that matter…what the frag were we even doing up here at the space bridge? "Um…Starscream?"

He turned and gave me a studying look. "What is it?" He questioned me back.

Thankfully, I hoped I had a somewhat intelligent question to ask him. "If I'm not supposed to know this you don't have to tell me…but what are w…you all trying to accomplish here?" Frag it all I almost said 'we'. I was not a Decepticon. I was merely a prisoner who they had not killed yet…and had decided to stop Megatron from stabbing himself with the dark energon…and had thought of the plan to use the satellite array to aim the space bridge.

…I was turning from a neutral supporter to a Decepticon. This wasn't good at all. Primus had brought me here to help bring the sides together but that was going to be hard to do if I became a Decepticon.

But…would that be so bad? I took a quick glance around me and realized that, with all things considered, the Decepticons hadn't treated me terribly. The twins and I were practically BFFs right now. I could even see them watching from the vent nearby. Starscream hadn't killed me yet and was actually tolerating me on the verge of being…nice. Was being a Decepticon such a bad thing? Would it be so terrible if I was one?

I had to get some sleep. If I got some rest, then maybe I could focus my thoughts.

Thankfully, Starscream answered my question…and it wasn't what I was expecting in the slightest. "While you were exploring with Rumble and Frenzy, we were able to get in contact with some of our troops who are still on Cybertron. We are going to open the space bridge close to where both groups of Decepticons are and transport them through. Our numbers will need to be increased so we can be prepared to fight if the Autobots receive reinforcements."

While I was stoked that there was a chance of more Decepticons coming, that surprisingly wasn't what took up my thoughts. I had always thought that the Decepticons had the advantage of numbers while they were here on Earth. However, with what Starscream just said, I realized that wasn't quite true. The drones, while beings with personal emotions themselves, couldn't fight to save their lives and were cannon fodder out on the battlefield. So, taking them out, that left the Decepticons with only three in their fold who could fight the Autobots here on Earth on even terms.

…And there were six Autobots here total and, taking out Ratchet since he rarely went into combat, that was still five on three odds. Now the show made sense why, after Megatron 'died' during the space bridge explosion, Starscream's first order of business was to garner more troops in the form of Skyquake. While that didn't work, I was seeing the episodes in a whole new light.

The Decepticons were the underdogs!

"So where is Megatron going?" I asked as Starscream turned the camera view of the ship toward the direction that Megatron was flying off to now.

In return, Starscream motioned to the screen before saying, "He's doing what any leader should do. He is acting as the distraction so our troops can make it through the bridge."

Unfortunately, while I wanted to stay here and watch the action, a huge yawn escaped my lips and I couldn't even try and cover it up. I needed to get some more sleep and my body was telling me that now was that time. Thanks a lot body.

Even worse timing, Soundwave walked into the room when I yawned and studied me. " _To sleep, perchance to dream."_ Really Soundwave? Shakespeare of all things to quote from?

But, I got the message and I really was tired. So, when Soundwave moved his servo next to Starscream's shoulder, I slid down onto it. As soon as my feet landed on his servo, weariness washed over me and I just realized how tired I was. I barely registered Soundwave leaving the room and walking the walk to his room. Honestly, I almost fell asleep right there in his servo. The only thing that stopped that from happening was our arrival to his room.

Once we were inside, Soundwave walked over to where my berth was and used one of his tentacles to lift me up and set me on it. I didn't even care that I was sleeping on the hard…cold…metal berth. As soon as Soundwave set me down, I curled up on the berth and felt my eyelids grow extremely heavy before they closed. I heard Soundwave leave the room before I fell into sleep.

I didn't know how long I was asleep, and I wished I could have stayed in the dark comforting oblivion that was sleep longer. But, I was suddenly jostled awake by a servo rapidly picking me up and moving toward Soundwave's door. I barely had my eyes open but, from the feel of the servo underneath me, I could tell that it was Starscream's servo. But…what was he doing getting me up so quickly?

…And why did Soundwave let him wake me up?

Suddenly, the world blurred even more around me and I felt like my insides were going to explode. What was going on? Did Starscream transform around me to fly somewhere? Oh well. I would kill him once I woke up fully and got some metal armor to protect me. Until then, I would have to wait.

However, it seemed like our flight only lasted a second…and that is in the literal sense, before we seemed to be in front of a group of bots. From the blurry screens that I could see around the room I knew that we were on the bridge.

"Do you have an offlining wish?" I heard Starscream ask someone…but it was weird. Starscream's voice sounded farther away than being right above me. But, that didn't matter. I looked around the room, which still looked blurry, and took in everyone that was there. I could make out their basic shapes and that was good enough for now.

There was Soundwave and on his shoulders I could see the outlines of Rumble and Frenzy, blue Starscream, Megatron, silver Starscream, red drone, big blue drone, dark blue and dark gold drone…Wait…that wasn't right. How could there be two Starscream's in front of me if I was being held by Starscream? Also…drones didn't come in different colors. They were all that dark purple color.

My mind remembered what Starscream had told me earlier and so I quickly rubbed my eyes before staring in front of me. What I saw caused my jaw to drop. There, standing in front of me, where four bots that were not supposed to be here yet…and three never showed up at all…and I didn't even know who one of them was. The red blurr that I had seen was Knockout, the big blue one was Breakdown, and the blue Starscream, if I had to guess, was Thundercracker. But…since I could now clearly see Starscream in front of me…then who was…

I looked up at the bot holding me and saw a purple Starscream like bot staring down at me with a wide smile. He looked like a kid that had just found his Christmas presents. Of course, while the bot had never made an appearance in the show before, I had a feeling that this bot was Skywarp. Holy frag this wasn't good. With these four bots and the bot who I had no idea who he was, then the show was now irrevocably off course. Knockout and Breakdown weren't supposed to show up until episode ten and the others were never even in the show! Frag my life this wasn't good. I was blaming Paul. He was the one that messed up and sent me to the Nemesis so he got the blame.

"Look what I found!" The mech i was sure was Skywarp commented as he jumped from side to side.

Thankfully, before the hyper mech could drop me, Soundwave moved over to me and picked me up out of his servos. I was in such an awestruck state that I wouldn't have cared if I was to be struck dead at that very moment.

However, my awestruck moment was stopped by Megatron speaking. "This human came to be on board our vessel and, while we do not know her origins, she has proved herself capable of surviving on this ship and has proven herself useful…for now." Yeah, I wasn't in the clear yet. But, with Megatron saying that I at least knew that I wasn't a total goner! Who knew? Maybe I would end up living the month that the twins proposed that I would live.

"Come on! We need a role call stat." Starscream spoke while taking a step forward. However, a growl from Megatron had Starscream hesitating. "Of course…that is if you would permit one Lord Megatron?"

Yeah…that sounded about right. Thankfully for my curiosity at the unknown mech, Megatron nodded once and they all took that as a cue for a roll call. "Knockout, medic and automobile enthusiast." The red doctor introduced himself. To my surprise, I wasn't fangirling like I knew I would have normally. Maybe it was my time spent with the Decepticons already that numbed me for this experience.

Breakdown then nodded toward us. "Breakdown, warrior and ex-Wrecker." That was right! I forgot that Breakdown's origin had him once an Autobot that came to the Decepticons! Good choice Breaky!

The blue seeker I was assuming was Thundercracker sent a glare at the triplet who had brought me in here before saying, "I am Thundercracker, aerial combat warrior and a member of Starscream's seeker trine." Ah! They had trines in this dimension! I wasn't sure, since it never came up, but now I knew it for a fact! Yes!

Then, the purple seeker…the one that had literally yanked me out of sleep and who I was sure was Skywarp, introduced himself. "Skywarp here, aerial combat warrior and a member of big brother Starscream's seeker trine!" Ha! And they were brothers! My day was getting so much better. Thank every single bit of my luck that this was happening!

I paid attention, though, as the final bot…who I just noticed had blue optics, spoke. "I'm Vox, ex-Autobot intelligence officer and now hold the same job for the Decepticon cause. Also, a very big fan of kicking the scrap out of Autobot intelligence officers."

Wow! It was a new bot! While I wanted to get to know them more…my body decided that it was time for me to go back to sleep and so I let out another yawn. Soundwave must have sent a private message to Megatron because the leader nodded and Soundwave walked me back to his room. Of course, the twins were with this time and I had a feeling that all three of us were going to be getting some sleep here.

Hopefully, I could get in contact with Paul soon. There was so much that I needed to yell at him for and talk with him about. I wasn't sure how much longer I could wait.

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

Frag my life. That as all I could possibly even think at the click. The time line was now so screwed up that there was no going back from it. How could I possibly know that? Well, that might have a little something to do with,

"Frag it Optimus what kind of scrapheap is this place?" A big bot with a somewhat large chin complained to Optimus as the two of them walked over with everyone else. Cliff had already been in the room with me.

While they were at the space bridge, things happened and a group of five Autobots were actually able to come through from Cybertron and give the Autobots better odds than they had before against the Decepticons. Who were those bots? Well, the one arguing with Optimus had been introduced as Sentinel Major. He was the creation of the last Prime and thus had a superiority complex that would have him get into arguments with Optimus quite often…at least from what I remember when I was still a part of my whole being.

"This place isn't so bad and we can have a lot of fun!" I could barely understand the blue bot that raced into the room at high speed. That, of course, was Blurr. Thankfully, he wasn't quite as fast a talker as would be seen on the television programs that Lizzie used to watch about my children but, still, he talked faster than your average Cybertronian.

Bumblebee and Bulkhead soon walked into the room followed by a black heavy duty mech that was between the size of the two previously mentioned bots. I didn't know much about him, and he had never appeared in any of the other dimensions, but this bot had introduced himself as Pitch. I made a mental note that, if I couldn't contact Lizzie tonight, I would dig through the information I could and find out more about Pitch. "I'm with Sentinel on this one. This dirt patch of a planet hardly seems like the place Megatron would want to have his grand plan come together."

Arcee then came into the room and she was followed by Ratchet and a red car mech that had a small blue and yellow mini-bot on his shoulder. That smiling bot let out a laugh at what Pitch said before making a comment of his own. "I wouldn't be too sure on that one Pitch. Earth seems to have plenty of energon and Megatron knows that we have to be cautious around the humans. So, this would make a pretty ideal spot for him to set up his main camp." And that was Blaster, with his mini-con Eject on his shoulder.

They were the reason that I knew that the timeline was fragged. They had been on Cybertron and near the space bridge when it had opened. The five of them had decided that it was worth the risk to take the bridge than remain on Cybertron. So, they had snuck through. Thankfully, from what the Autobots were able to report, no bot else came through the bridge before it was destroyed.

But…that of course had led to another problem…Megatron was still awake and fully functional. I was done trying to stop the changes from happening now. I just had to focus on finding Lizzie and making sure that we got on the same page with each other…and that she was alright. Wherever she was, I had a feeling that it wasn't comfortable and that would not be right for her to have to suffer through. At least if I could contact her, then I could send her some verbal comfort.

Actually, when the bots had come back from the mission, I had been in my room trying…and failing…to contact my MIA employee. If I couldn't find her soon, I felt like I was going to have a spark attack. Actually, looking around and seeing the tension between Optimus and Sentinel, I was going to have that spark attack one way or another. Why did I have to ask to stay at base? Now I was going to be stuck in the middle of all of this slag.

The only good thing was that I could use being 'human' to my advantage. "Hey bots," I jumped slightly when they all looked down at me. It was going to be weird to get used to this many bots in the base. Thankfully, the base was a lot bigger than it looked, and even had an underground labyrinth of rooms and passageways, so we could keep bringing in bots if we had to. Anyways, I had to get out of the room. "I think I'm going to bed for the night. I'll see you all in the morning."

"Night Paul!" Cliffjumper, who I was now thankful to for being alive and my guardian, said as I walked down the halls. Right as I left the room, I heard the sound of arguing start up again and I sighed. Lizzie was so lucky that she wasn't here right now. I knew, from keeping up on my research on her, that she would have destroyed every bot in that room before too long.

Once I was in my room, which thankfully was far enough away from the bots that I didn't have to hear their arguing, I got to my bed and laid down before closing my eyes. I would try one more time tonight to reach my employee.

 _I glanced around at my surroundings and was surprised to find myself in a simple void of space. This was different from the other times that I had tried to contact Lizzie. Before, I wouldn't even be able to leave my conscious mind and now…I was in space._

" _PAUL!"_

 _Jumping in surprise at the voice, I turned and felt a large wave of relief wash over me when I saw Lizzie coming toward me. She was alive and she was well. That was a very good thing. "Lizzie, I'm glad that you are," I didn't get another word out of my mouth as Lizzie threw a right hook and drilled me in the jaw. "Frag it Lizzie what's,"_

" _Wrong?" She finished off my sentence with a yell. "What's wrong? Oh, I could give you a long list of scrap that is wrong but the most important thing I need to get off my chest is that you fragging landed me_ _ **on the Nemesis**_ _!" Oh scrap. She was on there. However, I was shocked that she had been on there since I had sent her away._

" _Lizz," I tried to interrupted her._

 _However, I flinched when her anger came off of her in waves. "Not only that, but Starscream of all fraggers found me first and I think all of my luck has been used up in these past few days of trying to stay alive and in one piece! What the frag do you think you were thinking by putting me on the Nemesis? The Autobots are going to be a lot harder to persuade but does that matter? No! Now I am on the Decepticon warship and there is no way that I am going to be able to escape!" While I cringed as she lectured me_. _But, after all that I bet she has been through, she deserves a little venting at me._

 _Thankfully, she stopped yelling but she hyperventilated for a few more minutes before she finally calmed down and a relieved look came on her face. "Lizzie…are you alright?" I asked her softly._

 _Slowly, she nodded her head and looked up at me before she embraced me in a hug. "Paul, I'm so glad you're okay." That I was okay? She was the one who was with the Decepticons on the Nemesis but she was worried about me?_

 _After a few moments, the two of us separated and sat down on…dream matter, before I started to question her. "Lizzie, do you know how Cliffjumper is still alive?"_

 _Thankfully, she nodded. "Yeah. After Starscream found me and surprisingly didn't kill me, he took me to the bridge and Cliff was there. Starscream decided to let Cliff go because he didn't want to expose me to death so first hand. Starscream's been acting really creepy like that. He isn't the backstabber that the show had. Could our being here have caused that?"_

 _I nodded. That was indeed a possibility and, given the current situation, a very good thing that happened. But, Lizzie's explanation also told me of something else. "You were the human that Cliffjumper saw." Lizzie nodded to that but it had been more of a statement to myself. If I had just shown Cliffjumper a picture of Lizzie, then I would have known that she was on the ship all along. Of course, with Cliffjumper being alive I should have realized it. Speaking about changed things, another important item came up in my head. "Lizzie, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to the large chunk of dark energon that Megatron had…would you?"_

 _When she gulped I had a feeling that I knew what she was going to say. "I just reacted. It was so shocking to watch Megatron about to stab himself with the shard that I yelled at him to stop! I didn't think he would actually listen and then destroy the chunk he had!" Frag it Lizzie was the reason that there wasn't any dark energon. But, I couldn't be mad at her for it. She had been alone on the Nemesis and was just trying to stay alive._

 _Since that was the case, I felt like I should ask her something. "Lizzie, what do you think your odds are of escape?" If they were half decent chances then I was going to try and help the Autobots track the warship down and save Lizzie. Frag, since we now had Blaster that would be even easier to do._

 _Unfortunately, Lizzie shook her head at my question. "Less than zero percent. Starscream assigned my unofficial guardian as Soundwave and said mech has really embraced the role. I even have my own berth!"_

 _Frag. If Starscream was watching Lizzie…or even a drone, then we could have launched a rescue mission no problem. But, with Soundwave being in charge of watching Lizzie then that chance, like Lizzie said, was even less than zero percent. "Paul," I looked at Lizzie as she stared at me. "are the Autobots all alright from the spacebridge mission?"_

 _A quick look of guilt passed her eyes but I didn't comment on that as I answered her…thankfully positively. "Yes everybot is alright. The Decepticons didn't complete their objective and, what's better, five Autobots were able to sneak through the space bridge and have joined us on Earth. They are Sentinel Major, Pitch, Blurr, Blaster, and Eject."_

 _I expected her to look excited about there being new bots in the timeline but, instead, she almost looked a little nervous. "Did you say Pitch?" Wait…he was the newest in this timeline. Why did she sound so familiar with him? Before I could ask her on it, she shook her head and smiled. "Never mind…it's not important right now. Paul, you'll,"_

 _And that was as far as she got before her words went silent and, in an instant, she faded into nothing. That meant that someone on her side had woken her up. I just hope that whatever she wanted to tell me wasn't too important. I didn't want any unpleasant surprises. I already had enough surprises to last me two lifetimes._

I pulled myself awake and, immediately, I created a photo of Lizzie in my wallet to use. I had to let the Autobots know that the human on the ship was my employee. That would ease my worry somewhat, since I knew where she was, and the Autobots would know who they were looking for.

Thankfully, when I got back to the main room, Cliffjumper was still awake along with the others. Also thankfully it was quiet and so I was going to be able to get Cliffjumper's attention pretty quickly. "Paul? I thought you were going to bed?" Cliff asked me as he came to a stop in front of me.

Everyone else looked toward me before I spoke. "I was doing some thinking Cliffjumper…about Lizzie."

"Your missing employee right?" Cliffjumper asked me.

Nodding, I continued. "Yeah, that's the one. I had a thought come to my mind while I was laying down and I wanted to ask you about it." I then pulled the picture out of my wallet before holding it up to Cliffjumper. "Is this the human you saw on the Decepticon ship?"

All optics were on us as Cliffjumper picked me up so he could bring the picture closer to his optics. I had to act 'surprised' when his optics widened and he nodded. "Yeah that's her! That's the girl that Starscream had in his servo when he came onto the bridge!"

While the Autobots looked concerned, I just felt exhausted. Barely anything about this mission was going right and I knew that there was still a long road ahead of us. Hopefully, I would be able to make it through in one piece.

* * *

 **Paul: Thank Creation that you're alright Lizzie.**

 **Lizzie: *glares* *silent treatment***

 **Paul: *looks at Authoress* I'm guessing she is mad about the situation.**

 **Authoress: *nods* Yes, but she'll come around eventually. I have _so_ many plans. *dark chuckle as she walks off***

 **Paul and Lizzie: *shiver at whatever it is Authoress is planning***

* * *

 **AN: Boom! Lookie here folks I'm giving you another chapter! Changes for everyone! I want to really screw with the timeline this time around, since Power of One didn't have too much of that, and I figured that the best ways to do that were to A) Get rid of Dark Energon as a major factor. B) Cliffjumper not being dead. C) Paul and Lizzie are separate and I plan on them staying that way for a good chunk of the story (will make for great dream-talk sequences between the two) and of course D) Bring in new bots from the beginning episodes! I have a central theme that I am basing this re-write on and this chapter gives a hint as to what that is. If you think you know it, shoot me a PM with your guess and I'll let you know if you are right or wrong.**

 **...EEEEEE! I'm so excited to have Skywarp and Thundercracker in the series! (of course Knockout and Breakdown and Vox too but I rarely use Starscream's brothers) I think it is going to be a lot of fun! Of course, the Autobots got a boost with Blaster, Eject, Sentinel Major, Blurr, and Pitch (he is an OC of mine and if you have read the stories with him in it then you might see a small part of what is going to happen.) *evil smirk***

 **Next chappie takes place during Masters and Students and, of course, we will be having Lizzie's and Paul's 1st person POV as well as at least one new POV. Until next time, please leave a review! (even if it's to say hi! I love all of you who have read this. So let me know that you have so I can loves you! XD ) Until next chapter TTYL! *walks off with dark cloud overhead and evil laughter slowly reverberating from voice.***


	6. A Lesson in Servitude

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Authoress: Wow...this looks like so much fun!**

 **Lizzie: I don't think so. You're completely insane!**

 **Authoress: *smirks* Come on Lizzie. While that may be true, you get to have a lot of fun in this chapter!**

 **Lizzie: *thinks* *smirks* True. I guess I can't complain.**

 **Authoress: *mutters* Unlike a certain god.**

 **Paul: *somewhere in the distance* What was that!?**

* * *

Ch. 5: A Lesson in Servitude

 **Knockout's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I shook my helm as I organized this 'med-bay'. I mean, when was the last time that there was another medic on this ship? Tools were scattered all over the place, energon was splattered all over the floor from what I assumed were operations, drugs were in short supply which meant that I had to get some sedatives ordered quickly if the final battlefront that Megatron has envisioned will be on this planet. While I felt that this was a strange planet to employ as our final stand, I didn't dare question our leader.

…Though there was another decision that our Lord had made recently that I was confused about. Lord Megatron did not like having a being on the ship that did not pull their weight, so to speak, and that made me curious as to why he allowed the organic…human was what the files said it was called, to live on this ship? True, Soundwave seemed to have the little thing pretty trained but I was sure that it had its own personality. Why would it even want to be on a ship with giant metallic beings like ourselves? When Skywarp had suddenly vanished from the bridge, I thought that he was just going to cause trouble. But, then he returned with the human femme…I was almost sure that the records showed that they called that gender 'female', I thought that he had gone planetside and snagged one up. But, then I studied her and saw that she just looked surprised…and not afraid.

And then Starscream asked if Skywarp had an offlining wish and that told me that her presence was already known on the ship. Made me wonder where Skywarp had found her. Fear had only shown in the half out of recharge femme's fleshy face when Lord Megatron had spoken of his knowing of her presence here.

So, that meant that our leader knew that the human was here and hadn't killed her yet. That human had to be pretty lucky to have been allowed to live this long. But, with more of us on the ship, I had a feeling that human was going to have to show that she had a place here soon or our leader would not find any more use for her. While that really wouldn't affect me one way or the other, the human probably wouldn't like being,

A glint of something on the med berth caused me to frown. "Fragging idiotic glitches from the Pit! Don't the last bot to use this place know proper cleaning procedures!" I grumbled as I saw a piece of scrap metal just lying on the berth. The last medic had to be a pretty poor one if this was how they left their med bay.

The sound of metal clanging caused me to glance up and I raised an optic ridge in surprise when I saw said human in a now exposed air vent and she was looking down at me with a strangely curious look. "Sorry about that. Didn't realize that the cover was so loose." She apologized before shimming her way down to the floor, though that itself was impressive, and she walked over to the counter that I already cleaned and climbed up before sitting on it. "Do you mind if I sit in here for a while? Everyone else is at some sort of meeting."

That was right. While I was in here cleaning up after whatever bot was my predecessor, everybot else was on the bridge working on locating any of our troops that could come to us. So far, there was zilch. The other team that had been on Cybertron got held up by a group of Autobots and couldn't get through. So, they said that they would find other means to get to Earth quickly.

For the meantime, though, I guess I had to play the sparkling-sitter to the femme fleshling until Soundwave could come and retrieve her…or send those twins to. "Don't get in the way." I responded to her as I moved to clean up the med berth. While I did, though, I could just feel her staring at me. While I knew that I was an amazing specimen of my species, her staring was slightly annoying and I wished that it would stop.

Thankfully, after a few clicks, it did and I found myself forgetting the little femme as I tidied the med berth. Once it was done, I straightened up and turned to rinse out my rag in the sink. However, I had to stop myself when, to my surprise, I saw the little human using a scrap of cloth…that looked like a towel when compared to her, and was wiping up the energon mess that was on the counter. She actually looked like she was making progress on the stain…

…Well, progress for someone her size.

I stared at her for a few clicks more before she must have realized I stopped working and turned to me. Her face turned slightly red with what looked like embarrassment before saying, "Sorry. I just don't like to sit around doing nothing. But, if you want me to stop I can."

This femme…was helping? I still couldn't believe that some being aboard this ship would help, even if it was the organic human…I think Soundwave said that her name was Lizzie in the file that he gave all of us.

To make sure I answered her, I walked over to the sink and started to rinse out my rag before saying, "Whatever you want human. I don't mind the help. Just don't do something that will send Soundwave after me. I try to stay on that bot's good side." I then wrung out my towel before continuing. "You should always watch out for the quiet ones." Well, a little advice would only help the human while she was alive here on the ship. Plus, this was repayment for her helping me clean here.

The human and I continued to work for another two cycles before the room was done and, for her size, she didn't do too bad. She was able to get the old energon on the counter cleaned up and she was able to get most of the rust off of some of the extra tools. I only had to assist her at the end with the drips because she couldn't reach all of the rusted metal. For a human…this little femme was proving to be more useful than I thought. Maybe she would continue to earn her spot on the Nemesis?

I sat on one of the clean med berths, and she sat on the edge of the counter, and I took a drink of energon that I had stored for such an occasion. It was always nice to relax after hard work was done. Plus, I could celebrate that I didn't scuff up my paint job during this entire experience. Not bad for a solar cycle of cleaning my new med bay.

"Knockout…could I ask you something?"

Turning to the human, I saw that she seemed to be thinking about something deeply and it was a strange look on one so small. Even Rumble and Frenzy didn't get that deep into thought…at least for the time that I knew them. Unless something major happened, I doubted that changed.

Since the human did just help me clean up the med bay, including places that I couldn't reach, I nodded. "I might not answer but sure. What's on your little fleshy processor?"

She seemed to look hesitant, though I just told her that it was alright to ask me whatever question it was that she had, before she finally spoke. "What was life for you like on Cybertron?"

Well, that definitely wasn't the question that I expected the human to ask. There was something strange about this human but, for now, I had to think. While my life on Cybertron wasn't the greatest it could have been, this might help the young human understand why we fight those idiot Autobots. From how she was acting in here, and how even Megatron thought she was temporarily useful, she might just earn herself a place on this ship…which would be pretty impressive for an organic. She would need to know why she was helping us and it would be better to hear it from me than a redacted version that the Autobots would tell.

So, I stood up and walked over to her. She looked slightly nervous but I noted that she didn't make an attempt to move from my servo as I set it down next to her. "Come here. I'm not going to be yelling this to you from across med bay. But, don't you dare scuff my finish."

"Yeah that sounds fair." Was her response to me. Surprising given how I had already researched how humans normally interacted with their vehicles. Usually, they treated their vehicles as storage and would let small scratches go unattended. It was barbaric!

Once the human was settled in my servo, I walked her over to the med berth before I sat down and placed her on an elevated tray in front of me. This wasn't going to be a quick story and so I knew that we both had to be somewhat comfortable while I told it. Otherwise she would get distracted and I would get irritated. Not a good combination to have while talking.

"So, I guess I will start off with my background." I started. "I was raised in the city-state of Tarn after I came from the Well. Wasn't the worst life out there, but I knew that there were many who had more hope in existence than I could. On my first trip to Iacon…I was amazed. A place could look so clean and have so many bots who weren't stuck in slums like I was. They looked pristine and the finish on every bot I met seemed to shine. But, I was eventually 'caught' and I didn't understand what I'd done wrong. Then, I found out that there wasn't supposed to be cross travel between the citizens of the city-states of Kaon and Tarn. That was the solar cycle I realized exactly what sort of planet I lived on. The caste system stopped any bot of 'lower class' from bettering their own lives. The leaders of Kaon and Tarn, as I found out later, were just place-holders from the other city-states to make it look like our system of government was fair. To visitors of our planet, the citizens of Kaon and Tarn were just rusted pieces of scrap with no hope."

"That…sounds terrible." The human interrupted and I could see that, at the very least, my past seemed to be impacting the girl.

So, I continued. "Eventually, I was able to become a medic through an 'outreach' program that the _Council_ had to implement to appease a planet that they wanted to join in an alliance with. I trained with a few medics before I was shipped off to Kaon. There, I had to work in the gladiator pits and it was terrible. I never had enough supplies to heal the gladiators that came through and, for the seriously injured bots that I could not heal, I had to give them the gift of a quick offlining. It was like this for hundreds of stellar cycles until…one fateful solar cycle I heard one of Lord Megatron's speeches. After I heard it…I felt so much hope. I had worked on Lord Megatron before that point, though he was called Megatronus when he was a gladiator, but I never talked to him before. Soundwave, who was also a gladiator that I worked on, eventually recruited me for a cause that would rid Cybertron of the caste system. I couldn't say no to that so joined immediately."

As I paused, memories coming back to me of that day, the human asked another question. "What happened…when the war started?"

Well…I was going to have to talk about this anyways. "Honestly human, I was excited." She looked surprised and, since I was telling her this so she could understand what the Decepticons were about, I explained. "This war starting told me that Lord Megatron posed a very real threat to the caste system on Cybertron and it told me that Lord Megatron would fight this fight with everything he had. I had personally seen him fight in the Kaon Gladiator pits and so I knew just how fiercely he would fight to rid Cybertron of the caste system. I bet that Lord Megatron would have led us to victory quickly if it wasn't for the Council pulling a fast one."

"What was that?" The human asked me. I could see that she was becoming engrossed in my story and taking in every word that I said.

Of course, I was enjoying it. I loved being in the center of attention. "They convinced Lord Megatron's greatest ally and friend, Orion Pax, to become the next leader of the planet, which we call the Prime. So, Optimus Prime now fought for the Council and against his friend. Lord Megatron was furious at the betrayal from his friend and that's when the fighting turned dark. While we all were worried about how Lord Megatron was fighting and how close to crossing the line he came, and sometimes went over, us Decepticons knew that we could never stop fighting for the Decepticons because they fought against the caste system that had torn our planet apart for as long as I could remember."

The two of us sat in silence and I let her small fleshy brain process what I had just told her. This would probably be a lot for her to take in. I had pretty much just summarized a millennium stellar cycle's long war in a matter of clicks.

…I was just that good.

However, I had a feeling that I was going to have to explain more when the human's face suddenly looked confused. "Knockout…if the Decepticons fight against the caste system…why do you call Megatron 'Lord Megatron'?"

Well, this femme certainly knew how to ask a question. But, I was confused on how to answer it for her to understand. Of course…I knew why we called him 'Lord Megatron'. All Decepticons did even if Starscream liked to slack off on it at times. Well, he was from Vos and they didn't have the same experience with the Council like those of us from Tarn and Kaon did. So, he was slightly excused for his once in a while mistakes.

But…how to answer this human femme…I glanced at the light bit of information I had already looked up on humans and saw something that I might be able to use to explain the reason. "Let me ask you a question first. You humans have words you can place in front of your names like 'Mister' and 'Master' and "Misses' and 'Miss'. Why do you put them there when they are not necessary and at times can be degrading of placement?"

She looked like she was confused by that but answered. "Well, it's not so much that we think that they are above us…not at all. It's out of respect. When we put those titles in front of a person's name, we are saying that we respect them."

I nodded and followed her line of thought. "Exactly. That's exactly why we call Lord Megatron 'Lord'. It's not because we think of him as a Lord to rule over us but it's because we Decepticons respect our leader and gave him the title ourselves. We are not like the Autobots, who have the title of Prime put on their leader and that is shown as a status. Optimus Prime didn't have to earn the respect of his troops when he was given his title but us Decepticons respect Lord Megatron so much that we call him Lord."

Relief flooded my systems when the femme's face showed realization. That was easier than I thought it would be to explain to her. Now, maybe she would understand our cause more and put more effort into our cause. I had to admit that, as I spent more time with the human…Lizzie, the more comfortable I was with the idea of her being here on the ship. She didn't waste space and Lizzie seemed to want to know about our cause. Those were two good points in her direction from me.

"Thanks for clearing that up for me Knockout." Lizzie thanked me slowly before saying, "If there's anything I can do for you just let me know."

Actually, now that I thought about it, there might be something that she can do. I knew that times would be coming up where both Breakdown and myself would be needed out in the field and that meant that I was going to need somebot to cover in med-bay. Maybe she could…The med bay doors opening caused both myself and Lizzie to look up and I was surprised to see Breakdown walk in with Rumble and Frenzy. "Wow. Surprised you have the human Knockout." Breakdown greeted me before setting the twins down by said human. "I had orders to check on you before taking Rumble and Frenzy to the human so they could show her something. Glad I didn't have to go far for both."

Lizzie moved to the edge of the table, where Breakdown picked her up. Once he lifted his servo by the vent, and the three started to walk through, I called after her. "Hey human," She turned to me with a curious look on her face. "about that favor you said you owed me. If you ever find someone who can cover med bay I'd consider us even. Breakdown and I will probably have times we both need to be out in the field and I'll need somebot in here just in case somebot gets hurt."

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

As the twins led me down the vents away from med bay and toward Soundwave's room…I felt myself fall into shock. I had just asked Knockout those question so it wouldn't be so awkward in the med bay with him and to maybe find out a little about his past. While I did accomplish both of those goals…I got more than I had bargained for. Megatron wasn't the maniacal warlord that the show showed him as.

If Knockout was to be believed, and he didn't look like he was hiding anything when he was answering me, then Optimus was really the one who had his title without the respect of his troops…well, at first anyways. While I had no doubt that Optimus' troops respected him now…something told me that he had to earn that respect during the war. Megatron's troops…they respected him so much that they gave him a title before the war broke out. They gave him a title even though they suffered under a caste system. My own respect for Megatron just shot through the roof after hearing that from Knockout. Maybe I would start…

"Cybertron to Lizzie! You there?" Frenzy asked me and it was only then that I realized that they had stopped me in front of the vent to Soundwave's room.

Shaking my head, I nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that guys. I…Knockout and I just talked about a lot of stuff that has my head spinning." Then, I decided to get us off this topic before I zoned out again. "So, what did you want to show me?"

They both smirked and I had a bad feeling. "Don't worry you'll like it!" Rumble tried to encourage me while taking out a blindfold. Well…it was really a scrap of cloth that they were using as a blindfold but I didn't mind.

Also, the blindfold kinda said that this wasn't the first surprise that they had presented to me today. The first was when I had woke up. The two of them had blindfolded me…with Soundwave watching, before they led me to what I later found out were Soundwave's personal washracks. Inside, there was an isolate little human-sized room built into the washracks and I had gone in to see that it had its own shower head and some necessary hygiene items that I needed. Those were toothpaste, a toothbrush, mouthwash, a hairbrush, shampoo and soap inside that would last me for at least two months. Of course, the washracks also had chassis cleaning items so I realized that Rumble and Frenzy would be using it as well.

Then, I was blindfolded again…after I got to shower and wrapped myself in a towel, and the twins led me to a part of Soundwave's room that had been blocked by a sheet. Soundwave moved the sheet and then the twins removed the blindfold to reveal a drawer of clothes that I would need along with a hi-powered washer and dryer so I could clean my clothes. Plus, there was a little sanctioned off area in a corner that I was allowed to use to get changed after I picked out my clothes. It felt amazing to get into a new outfit and out of my clothes that I had on since I got to this dimension.

But…with all that they had revealed this morning what more could I be surprised by? I really had no idea but there was really only one way to find out. "Well…" I started nervously as I was blindly led by Rumble and Frenzy out of the vent and down to Soundwave's room. "guess we should see what it is."

The two of them sniggered at that and that worried me. If this was prank then I was so going to be getting them back for whatever happened. While they hadn't played a prank since I got here…as far as I knew, I knew that they were infamous in the fan community back in my home dimension for being expert pranksters. They were said to be up there with Sunstreaker and Sideswipe…and they were legends.

After quite a long time of disoriented guided walking by the twins, they brought me to a stop and I waited. They let me stand there for a few minutes and, during that time, I was tempted to take off the blindfold myself. But, they seemed excited by whatever it was that they were going to show me so I didn't want to ruin that surprise.

"You can thank Boss Bot and the two of us for this Lizzie." Rumble said.

Frenzy then took over. "Alright Lizzie. You can take off the blindfold now!"

Finally! I didn't waste any time in tearing off the blindfold. If this was a prank, then I wanted to get this over with quickly. However, when I finally got the blindfold off, I thought was I was going crazy. I mean like really crazy. It didn't make sense…what I was seeing that is.

However, just because it didn't make sense, that didn't mean that I didn't have tears of joy come to my eyes.

"This…this is…" I tried to voice my thanks as I walked closer to my surprise.

…A king-sized bed.

Yes…a bed. A very human king-sized bed with a nice mattress, sheets, pillows, and blankets. It was honestly one of the most beautiful sights that I had seen all day. No more would I be getting up with a sore back. I was finally going to have a comfortable sleep.

I hopped on the bed and smiled. This was heaven. Strangely, Rumble and Frenzy joined me. "Like I said, you can thank Boss Bot and us two, Lizzie." Rumble told me and, when I looked up, they were both smiling.

I smiled right back and hugged both of them. "Thank you both so much! I'll have to thank Bo…Soundwave when I see him next." Wow. I was really getting comfortable here. I was already almost calling Soundwave 'Boss Bot'. I had a feeling that, before too long, I was going to be calling Soundwave 'Boss Bot' on a regular basis.

"But…there is a catch." Frenzy added.

That had me worried. What kind of catch would there be to be able to keep this beautiful thing called a bed? "What is it?" I asked the both of them.

For some reason, their smiles made me feel a lot better. "To convince Boss Bot to get the bed for in here, we had to agree to give up our berths as well as yours. So, we get to be your sleeping buddies since there is only one berth for us now and it's your new soft berth." He then bounced on it a little. "It _is_ pretty comfy though."

The three of us looked at each other and stared before speaking at the same time. "Nap."

Yep, definitely could use a nap. After the cleaning that I just did with Knockout that would be nice. I would wash the sheets tomorrow morning after we woke up from our actual sleep. While it would be a little tiring to do those chores around here they were so going to be worth it. I had a soft bed and that meant that I would not be getting up tomorrow morning with a cracking back!

After the three of us got settled, I laid my head onto one of the pillows and, I must have been more tired than I thought because I was soon out cold.

When I woke up next, I saw that I was alone and the twins were gone. I had a feeling that Soundwave must have come by and picked them up for some sort of mission. Wait…what was going on today? Was _anything_ going on today? While I knew what episode should be next in the scheme of things, I had no idea how much time actually passed between the last episode…that had been royally screwed up, and the next one.

"Well…better do some exploring." I muttered to myself before getting up and crawling to the vent. Once I was inside, I started to make my way toward the lower levels of the ship. While the twins had given me a basic tour after I first met them, I wanted to see the backbone of the ship. The biggest thing I was curious about was whether the drones here were just that, drones, or if they had personalities and different strengths that they could use.

It took me about thirty minutes to get to the lower levels of the ship and, once I felt like I had made a good trip, I turned to one of the vents and opened it before crawling out of it. Perfect! I was in some sort of training room.

…Why was this never shown in the show? I had always wondered if the Decepticon had a training room like the Autobots did. I vaguely remembered seeing one at the Autobot base during the episode where Ratchet took the synth-en. But, I had never seen one on the Nemesis and it had never made sense to me. The Decepticons seemed the more war-oriented faction and yet they never showed a training room? Now I was glad that I knew that they had at least one.

 **Clang!**

Plus, as luck would have it, there were two drones training with some of the others watching. I didn't even realize that they trained. From watching the show, I had always thought that they were mass-produced drones that were made just to be cannon fodder and not shoot straight. But, it seemed like they actually did some training.

"You need to bring up your guard faster!" The vehicon drone that had a few scars on his chassis instructed the eradicon in front of him. The vehicon had just landed a strong hit to the eradicon's shoulder and it looked like it hurt.

However, instead of getting mad, I was surprised when the eradicon simply nodded before it launched at the vehicon again and, this time, the eradicon was able to block the vehicon's return strike before landing a hit of his own on the eradicon's side. Now that I looked at it, both of them looked pretty dented. "Got you!" The eradicon exclaimed with a smile

The fighting lasted for another ten clicks before the vehicon nodded his helm and said, "That's enough training for this solar cycle. The rest of you need to go and get back to work. When the bosses get back they are going to want this ship still running."

When the bosses got back? I figured that he was talking about the upper command when he said the bosses but I was curious as to where the upper command was. There weren't many times when the upper command went out in the beginning of the show and just overhearing that told me that we were probably on the episode where Skyquake showed up. I was sad that we originally lost Skyquake but, then my mind caught up with recent events and I realized that this episode could change now that we had so many Decepticons.

…Of course, there was also Paul's reported change in the Autobot's numbers as well.

Movement from the drones showed me that just the eradicon and vehicon that were training together were left and the vehicon was sitting in front of the eradicon. "Come on and let me fix you up." The eradicon told the vehicon.

The vehicon looked at the eradicon nervously before saying, "You sure you know what you're doing? I've survived a long time and I don't want that being taken out by you messing with my chassis when you didn't know what you were doing."

While I was curious as to how long the vehicon had been around, I was more curious about the eradicon that was working on fixing the vehicon. I thought that they were just used for fighting! Where did that bot learn to fix up another bot? I was curious and tried to lean closer to get a better look.

Of course…the grate I was leaning against decided to move. Somebot must oil up the hinges a little too well if a human like me could move the grate that easily. The sound of the gate moving, and my subsequent yelp at almost falling to ground level and going splat, caused the two drones to look up at me. Dang it! I wanted to watch them some more.

"Huh, didn't think the human would venture down here." The vehicon stated with a curious look to me.

Um…hello I was hanging from this grate and almost falling to my death! Hopefully one of them would see that so I could enjoy my new bed for at least one night of sleeping! "Um…could I get some help?" I asked them as I hung there.

The two drones glanced at each other, like they actually had to think about it, before the vehicon motioned up to me. "Better get her down J-03. Soundwave's looking out for her and I don't think it would be good if she was killed when we could have stopped it." Well, guess I was seeing how it was a good thing to be watched by Soundwave.

The eradicon nodded and stood up before walking up to the grate and holding his servo out to me. Thankfully, he held it pretty close so I was able to let go and drop into his waiting servo. "Thanks for that. I owe you one." I thanked my savior…this J-03. Once he brought me to the vehicon, who was now standing, I introduced myself. "Hi, the name's Lizzie. What are your names?"

What I didn't expect was for the vehicon to laugh while J-03 looked confused. "Names?" J-03 asked.

Finally, the vehicon stopped laughing enough to talk. "Oh, you have a lot to learn about being up here h…Lizzie. The only thing we drones have are our serial codes. You already know that is J-03 and I am C4-R1."

…I wasn't going to remember all those numbers and letters! I barely remembered names as it was and I knew that I wanted to get to know the drones on the ship. They offered a point of view on the war that many didn't get. In essence, they would be sparklings except they were in older bodies. They were learning as they went along and I was curious as to where their loyalties really lied.

"That's not going to do at all." I muttered as I sat crosslegged on J-03's servo and started to think. There had to be a better way to identify these drones and I wanted to figure it out before I had to go anywhere else. This way, I would know what to do if I ran into another drone.

However, the two drones that I was currently with looked confused. "What do you mean that they aren't going to do? Those are our serial codes and we can't just change them to whatever we want." J-03 asked me in while holding me up to visor level.

Wait…they could change them! Well…sort of. "That's it! Hah! It was so simple. Why didn't I think about this earlier?" I asked myself as the idea started to stick in my head.

"What are you going on about?" C4-R1 asked me as he seemed to study me.

I turned and looked at them both before smiling. "The answer to my problem is simple. There would be no way that I would remember all the serial codes for all of you that I meet, and I hope to meet more than you two, but I need something to call you that can be both unique to you and that you will remember. I figure that I can just substitute your numbers in your serial codes for letters and combine them into a name for each of you. Since none of you have the same serial number exactly this will work out great!"

They both looked surprised by my sudden outburst. "So…in a sense you are going to name us?" J-03 asked me.

I nodded and got to work on the ones that I had now. C4-R1. If I changed the numbers into letters that would make sense…I got Carl! "You're going to be Carl to me."

I pointed to the said vehicon. He seemed to muse over it before he shrugged. "Not the worst thing I've been called and it is easier than saying my serial number. So, why not? I guess I'm Carl."

Huh. He took that pretty well. Guess he was used to going with the flow. Now, however, it was time for the eradicon's name. J-03. Thankfully, not many names that I knew of started with the letter J and so, with only having to work with two other letters, I was able to come up with a simple yet nice name for him. "And you are going to be Joe."

Joe seemed so excited to have his name and flashed a smile before saying, "I like it. It's a lot easier to say than my serial number. Plus, we are going to be the first drones to have names!" Joe seemed pretty excited about the new name in comparison to his serial number. Yeah!

I went to say something else when they both seemed to go stiff. From experience with the twins, I had a feeling that they were getting some sort of message. I hope they weren't going to have to go and fight. I had just given them names and I didn't want them to get killed already. After a few minutes, they both relaxed before Carl nudged Joe. "You're going to have to take her."

Um…take me where?

"Why don't you?" Joe argued at Carl.

…Wow. I just named them and now they were fighting over who had to come with me. Really feeling the love bots. Seriously. If it wasn't for the fact that Joe was still holding me up high in the air, I would have just hopped down and told them that I would go to wherever I needed to be myself. But, glancing down, I realized that was just a tad bit too high for my taste.

Carl answered Joe with a motion toward the door. "I wouldn't mind taking her except for the fact that it's time for my guard shift in front of the energon storage room. So, that means that you are the only one left to take her." Carl then turned to leave the room. When he got to the door though, he paused before turning to Joe. "Oh, and don't worry. I gave your serial number to Knockout so he will know that you are supposed to have her. Don't want any unnecessary repairs now."

Joe and I stared at the now empty space in the doorway where Carl had been standing. Frag…that was one scary drone. Remind me to not get on Carl's bad side. Like…at all. "Um…he's scary." I said out loud to Joe.

He, in turn nodded. "Yeah, he's the oldest drone on the ship. He knows how to stay alive and he gets along decently with Soundwave so that means he gets some sway with the other bots in the chain of command. There aren't any drones psychotic enough to try and do anything to him." He then walked out of the training room and started to move toward the upper levels of the ship.

Okay…so was I supposed to remain clueless about what was going on? I think not. "Hey Joe…what's going on?"

He glanced down at me before looking back ahead. "Soundwave sent out an alert to all drones that, once you were found, that you be brought to med bay. It seems like he, Lord Megatron, and Starscream and some of the others have located a location here on Earth that houses one of the Decepticons' top fighters. From what I know, his designation is Skyquake."

Ah…so that's where we were. I was pretty sure we were here but I didn't want to assume anything. When watching the show back in my home dimension, I knew that it was easy to look over the fact that time passed by between the episodes sometimes and this could have been an example. But, I guess that it made sense for Skyquake's awakening to happen the day after the space bridge exploded. In the original, Starscream would have been frantic to get another bot on his side to solidify his authority on the ship.

But, since I was with somebot else right now, I realized it would be rude to not keep talking to him. Even though we were almost to med-bay, there was still one question that I wanted to ask Joe. "So Joe, where did you learn to repair bots?"

He froze for a second before speaking. "Well, I've always been curious about the medical field and so, one solar cycle during my break, I started to get information on healing. It wasn't easy to get into the files but, with no medic on board at the time, I wanted to be able to help heal the other drones so I kept looking. I'm not great yet but I can do simple repairs no problem. But, the harder procedures are under more strict blocks and I can't get to them."

When we arrived at med-bay, he stopped talking but I had a wide grin spread on my face. I didn't like having debts to other beings and Joe just helped me get rid of one of my debts quick and easy. The door to med-bay swung open and Joe walked the two of us inside. I saw that Knockout and Breakdown were still here and both were turned toward us.

"Ah," Knockout started with a nod. "J-03, good job in getting Lizzie up here. Soundwave would have had my finish if she wasn't here when he got back."

Joe seemed embarrassed by the attention. "Um…th…thank you sir." Guess with 'Scream and Megatron on board…along with Soundwave, Joe wasn't used to getting praised for doing a good job.

I felt bad for Joe for being embarrassed but, when Knockout looked to me, I knew that I was going to make it worse…but it would be worth it in the end. "Hey Knockout! Guess what? I just brought you a medic!"

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

Bullets hailed over-head and the sparks of swords clashing could be seen from my current location but, surprisingly, I was happy. True, I probably shouldn't have snuck with the Autobots to intercept the energon signal that had appeared in a canyon. Yeah, Cliffjumper was probably going to have my hide when we got back and he discovered me. But, I had to make sure. This was the episode that Skyquake was supposed to rise and, eventually, be offlined by Bumblebee. While the timeline was off from what was preset, I had a feeling that the Autobots were going to be able to win this battle and at least offline Skyquake like he was supposed to.

"This is so awesome Paul! Thanks for helping me sneak out." Miko whispered next to me as she took picture upon picture of the battle going on in the canyon.

…What? I wanted to make sure that I had some sort of backup and, since Lizzie was not going to be able to help me like I intended, then Miko was the next best option. She wasn't afraid to come out into the battles with me and I had a feeling that, if I told her to do something during this, that she would without much hesitation…if any at all.

Out of the three kids, she was the one that was most like Lizzie and so I had a feeling I could direct her correctly.

When we had arrived in the canyon, I was surprised to see Megatron and Soundwave next to Starscream and Skyquake. While I knew that he had survived the explosion, I didn't expect him to bring Soundwave along with him, Starscream, and a group of drones to resurrect Skyquake.

Of course, it wasn't just Optimus and Bumblebee this time around for the Autobots either. Sentinel Major, Pitch, Blurr, and Bulkhead were here as well. While Optimus fought with Megatron, and Sentinel and Blurr were working on a group of the drones, Pitch was going after Starscream and I couldn't help but notice a strange look in both of their optics. They had met before. That much was obvious to me, but I had little luck digging up any information on this Pitch character. What I was able to find, to my surprise, was that he was actually a native of Iacon. He was an instructor at a boot camp during the early stages of the war but, after that, he seemed to fall off the grid.

Now, he was back and I didn't like being so ill-informed on a bot. Lizzie knew who he was and I was now even more upset that I could only communicate with her in her sleep, and even that wasn't a sure thing. This Pitch…I needed to figure out exactly how she knew him. From the look I saw flash across her eyes when she had said that…she had felt fear toward Pitch. Something about this Pitch character scared her like no other. But, until I could talk with her, I wanted to study Pitch for myself. From what I had seen so far, there was nothing really wrong with him except that he fought a little more aggressively than most other Autobots. But, that wasn't exactly something to fault him on.

The sound of a jet flying overhead caused both Miko and me to look up and I watched as Bumblebee jumped from the side of the cliff and onto Skyquake's back. I let out a sigh of relief when that happened. The show was going as planned and that meant that Skyquake would, unfortunately, end up offlining. If it didn't affect the series so much, then he could have had a chance. But, his offlining was what drew Dreadwing to Earth, which brought back Wheeljack, and which eventually allowed the Autobots to create a spacebridge with the Forge of Solus Prime that Dreadwing would give to Optimus.

"Wow. I'm kinda jealous of 'Bee right now." Miko stated as she came to stand next to me with her phone raised taking a picture. "It would be so awesome to fly like that! He's like a metal cowboy right now."

I laughed at her comparison and nodded. "Yeah, that certainly seems the case. But, now he's got to bring down what he's wrangled."

I felt anticipation tighten in my body as Skyquake flew the two even higher. Soon Skyquake would start his descent and that would be when Bumblebee would take him out and keep the show somewhat on track. While I knew most of it was out of the picture now since more Autobots were here and there was the absence of dark energon…which I had Lizzie to 'thank' for, this bit of the time line still had a chance to pull through and, with how things were looking, that chance was very real and close to happening. That would give me some relief with how messed up the timeline already was. Frag it all this had better go right! While it felt bad to cheer against the survival of one of my children, I knew that this had to happen.

My anticipation tightened even more as Skyquake moved into a slight dive and Bumblebee rose his fist up. This was it. As soon as that fist slammed down into Skyquake's circuits…his fate would be sealed and the show could continue on. By Creation let it please continue on like it was supposed to. As Bumblebee's fist reached its pinnacle, I felt my nerves reach their peak. I noticed that the other fights had stopped and we were all watching this. Megatron looked angered that this was about to happen and the Autobots looked excited that they were about to make a blow against the Decepticons. But, it was the look on Starscream's faceplate that had me worried. He didn't look angry. But, instead he looked calculating and, when Bumblebee's fist was at its highest…he smirked. Was he really that cruel that he would smirk that Skyquake was going to offline?

A sudden pop in the air had me looking back toward Skyquake. My eyes, though, widened in shock at what I saw. Skyquake looked just like he did before Bumblebee got on him and Bumblebee had vanished from Skyquake's backplates! Where was he? This wasn't right! Couldn't I just have one thing go right for me? Please!

Another pop sounded through the air, though this one was definitely louder, and my optics widened when a purple blur suddenly slammed Bumblebee to the ground before another pop sounded and the blur disappeared. What was going on? Who the frag was that? Why did fate want to mess with this timeline? Really?! I wasn't even sure how Lizzie ended up on the Nemesis and I didn't want to have to pay for something that I didn't know the reason for! "Whoa. Didn't see that one coming." Miko muttered by me and I noticed that she was still taking pictures. Glad at least _one_ of us was enjoying their time out here.

Shaking my head, I looked up as another pop sounded, this time by Starscream, and I had to drop my jaw in surprise at what I saw. It was another Starscream! But…this one was purple. Starscream didn't clone himself until much later in the show! What was a clone…

…Oh wait. That wasn't a clone. Frag my life.

"That wasn't very nice Autobots." The new bot said from next to Starscream while sticking his glossa out at us all.

Starscream shook his helm and placed his servo against his faceplate. Guess we weren't the only ones who were going to be suffering by this bot's appearance. "Autobots eng," Optimus started to order when a large sonic boom interrupted his train of thought and, before anyone could say anything else, a blue jet that looked similar to Starscream's alt mode flew low and fast through the canyon behind the Decepticons. It was a mere second later that the jet flew over the Decepticons and, once it was over us, it let out a large sonic shockwave that caused both Miko and I to be thrown back…along with the Autobots.

Once I was aware of my surroundings again, I stood up and made my way over to Miko. "Hey, you alright Miko?"

She smiled and nodded before standing up and saying, "All good Paul." She then looked behind me and frowned slightly. "But, the Autobots don't look happy."

I turned slowly and saw that Blurr and Bulkhead were staring at the two of us with a look that meant trouble. More specifically, that _we_ would be getting in trouble. Great. The Decepticons had more troops on their side, Skyquake was still online, and now I was going to be lectured with Miko once we were back at base. I then flinched when I realized that I would also be lectured by Cliffjumper. Joy. That was exactly _not_ what I needed.

Looking back at the Decepticons, I saw that Starscream, the purple seeker who I now knew was Skywarp, and the blue seeker who had just delivered that attack against us that I knew was Thundercracker, were standing together and Skyquake was standing next to Megatron. "While a confrontation with you Autobots would be interesting, that's not what we came out here to do and I don't like wasting my time." He then turned to Soundwave. There must have been some sort of unspoken command because Soundwave suddenly nodded and, instantly, a groundbridge was opened up behind them and the Decepticons started to file through. Skywarp, to my surprise, was the last one through and he stuck out his glossa at us again before he ran through.

Now I knew what Lizzie wanted to tell me. That night, when I had finally gotten into contact with her, she was trying to tell me that the Decepticons did not fail at the space bridge like we all thought they did. They had two of their own soldiers come through. And they weren't just any soldiers. They were Starscream's two brothers who also made up his trine. The Decepticon side just got a lot more powerful and I knew that wasn't a good thing. Not at all.

A shadow being cast over me caused me to look up and I saw that Miko and I were now surrounded by the Autobots and Optimus especially looked like he was in a lecturing mood.

…Frag!

* * *

 **Authoress: Yeah! Now we can have Joe and Carl in here!**

 **Lizzie: What about everyone else that we have introduced?**

 **Joe: *nods* While I'm glad to be in here, because that usually means that I'm not going to die right away, there are other bots that should be in here.**

 **Authoress: *smirks* Who Joe? Like the bot that Lizzie just told that she found a medic?**

 **Joe: *glares at Lizzie* Speaking on that...why did you tell Knockout that? I'm going to be murdered!**

 **Lizzie: *shrugs* Gut feeling.**

 **Joe: *sweat drops* Oh, I'm suddenly not feeling so good.**

 **Knockout: *walks in* Did somebot just call a doctor?**

 **Joe and Lizzie: *yelp at sudden appearance***

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter! To ladybug02, no it's not bad that you're not sorry. I'm the one that does all this to them and I just sit back and laugh at them all! XD**

 **Anyways, so I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Looks like things are still changing (and Paul is still unhappy)! Skyquake is alive and Paul now knows that there are at least two more Decepticons on Earth! He will find out about the others the next time he gets in contact with Lizzie. Speaking on Lizzie, she certainly got a lot of information out of Knockout about the state of Cybertron before the war and even got some more information than she was looking for. Also, she got to meet Joe and Carl and she gets to pay back her debt to Knockout! Aren't I nice?**

 **And yes, since Lizzie is on the Nemesis and unable to help Paul how he wanted, he will be taking Miko with him so she will get a lot more action than what she saw in the show (or in the original of this story, The Power of One). She should be excited about that! Next chapter is not going to have much with the Autobots (of course we will check in with some of the mayhem via Paul panicking) but we will have a pretty interesting development with the relationship between Lizzie and Megatron (which as it stands right now is begrudingly allowing Lizzie to continue living for now on Megatron's part).**

 **Well, that's all for now. Please drop a review, even to say hi, so Lizzie knows that she's not going to have to go through everything I put her through without a reason.**

 ***in background* Lizzie: What!?**

 **Until next time my readers! TTYL! *starts singing a polka* XD**


	7. A Game of Risk

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

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 **Starscream: I don't like the looks of this.**

 **Authoress: *confused* Why don't you like the looks of this? I figured that would be Lizzie more than you since she is the one that I normally torture.**

 **Starscream: *nods* That's exactly why I don't like this. Lizzie is my responsibility along with Soundwave's and so I am responsible for her care. Primus forbid that she is left alone with Lord Megatron. That will be the end of her and, once Soundwave get's his servos around my neck, the end for me too.**

 **Authoress: *facepalms* So you're pretty much worried for your own chassis.**

 **Starscream: *frowns and puts servos on his hips* And what is so wrong with that human?**

 **Lizzie: *walks in* *sees title* Oh...that doesn't look good at all. *cries***

 **Starscream: *panics* Scrap! Authoress how do I get her to stop?!**

 **Authoress: *nonchalantly shrugs shoulders***

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Ch. 6: A Game of Risk

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

My nerves felt like they were going to get the best of me as the four of us worked. We had to be very careful to pull this off or we were going to get caught and that would not be a good thing. I was trying to stay alive on the ship as long as I possibly could and, if I got caught aiding in this plot, then I could end up in some serious hot water. I mean it would almost be boiling hot water. That would make most wonder why I would even consider doing anything like what I was doing. Well, the simple answer was…it was going to be fun as long as I wasn't caught.

Thankfully, besides doing a few odds and ends things, my real job was to act as a 'strategist' for this plot. The four of us had gathered around earlier and I had devised a way to accomplish this plot in the most effective way that would not get us caught and would create the most damage. Everything was calculated for the most part but there was one uncertainty that kept throwing my equations.

"Skywarp, hurry up and get that panel replaced." Frenzy commented from where he was. "Remember the part of the plan where we weren't sure when your brothers were going to get back? Well they might get back before we get out of here if you don't hurry up with that thing."

I turned to look at the twins and saw that, like me, they had just got done with their parts in this master plot of mine. Skywarp, however, seemed to be having trouble getting the panel of the air vent shut. That was where we had him set up the video camera so we could have this entire incident on film. It would be so much fun to look back on later.

Of course, we wanted memories of ourselves doing this so Rumble had a video recorder strapped to his helm that was recording everything. It even rotated around his helm so it was recording everyone at one point. It was kinda cool and it reminded me of home videos that my mom used to take of me. She, at one point, was in the business of owning rental houses and, to show proof of what the house was like, she would take video of it. Of course, she also took video of me during those videos and they served as a good portion of our home videos.

Back to the situation at hand, however. "I'm trying to but this screw doesn't want to go back in like the others and it's making the cover look crooked. It's blocking the camera's view of the room and it will tell 'Scream and 'Cracker that somebot's been messing around in here."

There had to be something that he was forgetting to do so I looked at the screws. While they were pretty far away, I could see what he was talking about and knew that there had to be something that was off. Maybe he was forgetting…That was it! "Skywarp did you put the washer back on the screw?" I asked the seeker?

His red optics stared at me in confusion for a second before they widened and he started to look around. After a few seconds, he bent down and picked up said washer and attached it to the screw before he put the screw back in place. I'm pretty sure that we all felt relief when the screw went on without a hitch and the cover didn't look like it had been messed with.

"Okay, now that we have that settled let's get out of here. That meeting that they had with Lord Megatron and the others is going to get done at any minute…if it hasn't finished already." I was worried about getting caught doing this and I really didn't want to get Megatron any more mad at me than he already was.

…And about the 'Lord' bit…well, it was honestly a habit now. This day marked five days since we had saved Skyquake from being killed and I got my little history lesson from Knockout. Ever since that day, I had been listening to everyone on the ship when they would talk with Lord Megatron, since the monitors in Soundwave's room had speakers to listen in, and they would all call him 'Lord'. Even Starscream called him that more now than in the show. So, after all the film I watched, I guess it kinda just latched onto me. Hopefully next time Paul got in contact with me I wouldn't slip and use it. Who knew what he would try then?

I was temporarily drawn out of my thoughts when Skywarp picked me up in his right servo, while the twins were in his left, before he teleported out of the room. Instantly my insides felt like they were being torn apart and I knew that it was going to take me a long time to get used to this warping. Hopefully, ground bridging would be far less painful on my insides. That would be, of course, if they ever even let me off the ship. I had a feeling that it would be some time before they would let me off the ship but I could hope. Some fresh air that wasn't from the flight deck would be awesome. Maybe a sandy beach with the twins sipping on a margarita. That sounded very nice.

"So how long do you think it's going to take for those to activate?" Rumble asked, pulling me out of my beach fantasy.

We all looked up at Skywarp, since he would have the best idea, before the seeker laughed and said, "It'll be soon. 'Screamer sent me a private message to me a click ago and said that the meeting just got over with. So, I would say about five more clicks." He then walked into a vacant room…my guess was that it was normally for storage, before he put his hand by a table with a monitor and he let the three of us down. Once we were down, he pulled up a chair and sat as the twins worked on syncing the camera in the vent to this monitor.

Since I wasn't a fan of silence, I figured that I would ask them something. "So, Lizzie…" Except Rumble beat me to it. "You've been asking everybot questions about what they like and don't like lately…" Yeah, I was trying to make sure that I wasn't killed because I did something that a bot doesn't like. I hadn't asked Megatron personally but Soundwave was able to give me some basic do and do not suggestions.

"Yeah…" I urged him on since he got distracted by the screen.

Rumble, in return, nodded before finally asking his question. "So tell us what you like and don't like." Well, somewhat of a question that sounded more like a demand.

"Yeah!" Frenzy jumped in as the two of them continued typing. "We want to know more about you too!"

Honestly, I had been trying to avoid giving out information about myself. I was afraid that, given how close I was getting with the Decepticons, that I might spill something about how I got here. While I had been honest in saying that I didn't know how I got on the Nemesis…and from Paul's face the other day he didn't know how I got here either, I did know about them before I got here and I knew the force that had started my trip to this dimension…even though again I wasn't sure how exactly I ended up here on the Nemesis.

So, with all that in mind, I answered them. "Well, I'll start with what I don't like. I don't like bugs but I'll tolerate them if they aren't messing with me…within five hundred feet. I also really don't like the color pink."

"…Really a color?" Skywarp asked me confused.

What was so wrong with not liking a color. "Pink has just always bothered me. Everyone always attaches it with girls and expects them to at least tolerate it. Not me! I don't like it one bit. Plus it's way to…cheery. It's almost a smothering color of cheeriness." I then shuddered as a memory of one of my Uncles getting me a pink dress came to mind and I had to wear it. Horrible memory. "Anyways…I don't like bullies. If you have that low of self-esteem that you have to pick on others then you need to get over it and not take it out on others." I then shuddered as the final point on this part came to my head. Flashes of yellow and white skin with red eyes haunted me whenever I thought of the creature. "But…most of all…I _really_ hate snakes." A cold chill ran down my spine when I said that.

They all looked confused. "Snakes? What's so wrong with them?"

While I didn't want to get into the story, I knew that I now had to. "When I was seven, mom took me to a zoo and they were having a reptile exhibition. One that they were showing was an Albino Burmese Python. I was in front of the crowd and watching it. But, no one noticed that it got out of the trainer's hands until it came after me. I…accidentally tripped while trying to get away and knocked myself out but I still remember the look of the snake as it came at me." I shivered as another cold chill clawed its way up my spine. I _really_ hated snakes.

Thankfully, they all changed the subject pretty quickly. "So what do you like…besides us?" Frenzy asked me. I knew that he was talking about me liking the Decepticons when he was talking about 'us'. Of course I liked 'us'. The Decepticons were awesome! If it wasn't for Megatron scaring the crap out of me and making me question my continued existence every time he and I were in sight of each other then I would say that I liked all the Decepticons on the ship right now.

Again that took me a little time before I had what I wanted to say. With this I also had to be careful because, normally, the top of my list would be anything to do with Cybertronians but…well…given the situation at hand that may not be best to say. "Well, my favorite ice cream is English Toffee…and no it does not taste like coffee. I also like dogs. They are smart and so much fun to play with." I smiled as a memory from when I was little came to my head when our then aging German Shepherd, Micky, had to herd me because mom would sometimes have to take care of something and I was pretty adventurous.

"Dogs?" Rumble asked a little confused. "Don't humans keep them as pets at times? Why would they be something that you like?"

I smiled as I remembered Micky again before I spoke. "Growing up I had a German Shepherd that was trained to watch out for me and make sure that I stayed out of trouble." I then continued with my list. "My favorite color is green…and yes I know it is a color but I like it. It's bright but not obnoxiously so." I then had to think again before I decided on the last thing to tell them. "Finally, I really like to play strategy games. Risk is a personal favorite but any strategy game is fun. Mom and I used to play it all the time when we got some free time." Course, I beat mom more than she beat me but it was always suspenseful and we both would try and throw in surprise moves to throw each other off our games. When it came to strategy games, I couldn't be beat and it allowed me to be pretty good at strategies in real life. Like today with the prank. I was the mastermind behind the execution of the prank and I knew that it was,

"Hey the camera activated." Skywarp drew me out of my thoughts.

The four of us looked at the monitor as Starscream and Thundercracker walked into their room and I smirked as they tripped the fishing line by their pedes. While that normally would be too thick to use as an activator, it's near invisibility at times and the fact that we were using it on Cybertronians made it perfect. I doubted that they would even notice that they tripped something.

I was proven mentally correct as a giant net was shot from a cannon above the doorway and grabbed the two seekers before the momentum from the cannon shot threw the entrapped seekers across the room and toward the wall…which we had coated with a special adhesive that we found in the med bay.

…Knockout and Joe wouldn't mind I hoped.

While the two seekers were trapped on the wall, like bugs on flypaper, panels on the floor activated and threw black and pink paint at both of Skywarp's brothers. Glitter of course followed that and then, finally, from above, a fan with silly string activators starts and sprays the two seekers while the air from the fan starts to dry the seekers.

The four of us smiled at each other as the final part of the plan finished. "Mechs…it has been an honor to work with you and I hope to work with you again in the future."

"Lizzie, we need to work with you more often. You knew how to set up the prank and your strategy about how to have the traps activate, and how to set them up, so Starscream and Thundercracker wouldn't know was perfect!" Skywarp congratulated me.

Frenzy nodded with a smile. "Yeah, you're really good at coming up with strategies. It's a good thing that you like that one game."

I went to respond to them when they all straightened and I had a feeling that it wasn't from Thundercracker and Starscream. If it was from the two of them then I was sure that my three partners in crime wouldn't have bothered answering. But, since they did answer, then I had a feeling that our fun was over. Drat. I was hoping to try and prank Vox and Breakdown next.

Once the three of them relaxed again, it didn't take Skywarp long to answer as he put his servo down next to the three of us. "Sorry Lizzie, but we can't have any more fun for the solar cycle. That was Soundwave and he called and said to take you to the throne room. The three of us have to go on patrol with Soundwave and Knockout and Joe are busy in the med bay."

My names for the drones had started to catch on with everybot else on the ship and I was naming more drones as the days went on. Plus, I was finding that it was easier to tell the drones apart than I thought that it would be.

…But back to the major problem I saw in that order. "The _throne_ room? Isn't that a high traffic place for Lord Megatron? I don't need to be squished just because I don't have a babysitter. You can stick me in Soundwave's room and it would be easier."

Skywarp nodded but argued back with me as he continued to walk. "According to Soundwave, Lord Megatron just left there for a quick power down. That means that you have a good cycle before you have to worry about Lord Megatron finding you. Plus, Soundwave asked Knockout to come and get you once the crowd in med bay calms down enough for Joe to handle things. According to Knockout that shouldn't take more the thirty clicks." He then grinned widely as he entered said throne room. "Don't worry Lizzie you'll be fine and Lord Megatron won't even know that you were here."

Then, of course, Skywarp placed me on one of the arm rests on the throne. Really? I felt nervous just standing on here and I knew that it was not going to end nicely for me if I got caught. I mean…technically I was sitting on the Decepticon throne and I knew I would be blown to bits if Lord Megatron found me.

Thankfully, or maybe not so thankfully, Frenzy noticed that I looked uncomfortable on the arm rest because he jumped the short distance next to me before he typed a few things into said arm rest. To my surprise, a 3D version of Risk suddenly appeared in the air in front of me and I had a computer opponent. "Here Lizzie, something to keep you occupied until Knockout gets here. Since the game is pulled up, just use voice command and the game will respond to you."

I didn't even watch Skywarp as he picked Frenzy back up and the three of them left the room. I was a sucker for playing Risk and I was not going to be losing to computer generated opponents. I felt myself start to shove everything around me to the background as my mind started to strategize what I was going to do.

…My color was so going to be green.

 **Megatron's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I was surprised. Surprised that the human…Lizzie I think Soundwave reported her name to be, had not caused any issues while on board the ship. While I had allowed her to live, merely for studying the human species that seemed to have the Autobots in an uneasy alliance, I had not expected her to stay out from under-pede, or from getting in trouble, for this length of time. It was almost impressive. This told me that I had to observe her more closely than I had been so I did.

And she continued to impress me…which wasn't easy. She made sure to stay out of the way when she needed to but, at the same time, she stayed just close enough to offer her weak human help when she could. I could tell that she was trying to find her place on my ship but there didn't seem to be anything, from what I observed, that she could do that would be of any use to my ship. While her suggestion on using the satellite array had been useful, as had her naming the drones, both of those were one time experiences. She needed to find a continuous way to be useful before too long. Otherwise, she would be a waste of space on my ship and need to be terminated.

Currently, I was on my way back to my throne room. I had been planning to power down for a good three cycles but, with the stress of Optimus' new Autobots here on Earth, I found that I could only power down for about thirty clicks. I was worried about one new Autobot in particular that Starscream reported about.

That was Pitch. Starscream reported to me about his past with the Autobot, and I knew that his report was correct. According to Starscream, before he came to be my second in command, he was sent to a planet known as Dragonia with a detachment of Decepticons to study how the organic systems of the planet and the non-organic systems were co-existing with each other. We would need to know if the planet would be suitable for being a base of operations for our troops.

It seemed that the Autobots had thought the same thing of the planet and had sent a detachment of their troops to the planet as well. Starscream and his detachment were ambushed by the Autobots and Starscream reported to me that this Pitch was responsible for slaughtering the prisoners there on planet. Starscream himself, according to his report, was only able to escape due to outwitting the Autobot. The report of the tortures Pitch placed upon the prisoners caused me to wonder if Optimus knew what sort of bot was currently at their secret base around those humans that he cared so much for.

We would keep an optic on Pitch. For now, however, I had to find a way to make contact with more of my Decepticons. With the knowledge that Optimus has just increased his troops fresh in my processor, I knew that we would need even more of our troops here. There were a few options that I knew of but I had to get to the throne room to contact them.

When I finally arrived at the doors to the throne room, and they opened, I took about three steps inside before my optics locked onto something out of place. There, sitting on my arm rest, was said human that had been plaguing my thoughts. What was she doing here?! This was the final straw for the human. I went to charge my arm cannon when my optics caught sight of movement in front of the human. So, I lowered my cannon and studied the human. She seemed to be playing some sort of military strategy game.

The layout of the game was a map of this planet and I assumed that the pieces represented a division of troops that were at her 'disposal'. From what I knew of Earth geography, the only continent that she had left to take was North America and she was going in from the south. She seemed to be playing the invasion of North America very wisely. While she could have gone for an all-out attack, she seemed to realize that would leave her other positions weakened and, if the enemy tried to launch a counter attack, she might lose ground. In this case, it was best to go slow and steady.

It took the human a couple of clicks to finally take over Earth and, once she was done, she let out a sigh of relief and said her back against the arm of my chair. While the human seemed to be uninformed of my presence, and finished with her 'game', I decided to make her aware of my presence here.

"Human."

The simple word from my vocals caused the human to sit upright quickly and I saw her organic optics…eyes they were called, widen in fear at my 'sudden' appearance. That was another positive that the human had. From the interactions that my troops had with the human allies of the Autobots, I had determined that humans were stubborn beings who were much like Autobots in organic coverings; preaching about equality for all while, at the same time, keeping themselves blind to the problems of their own governing system and their leaders 'evil' habits. While I would admit that in the recent million stellar cycles, I had started to fall off of the path that I had set for my Decepticons and our cause, I was now returning to our fight of freedom for all bots, and not just 'freedom' for the bots of the higher castes…and pretty much no Cybertronians from Kaon and Tarn like the Autobots fought for. While Optimus was an honorable opponent, and I believe that we could one solar cycle be friends again, it would take time.

Back to the seemingly petrified human, she seemed to be open to new ways of experiencing her short life-span and she had picked up on how to behave on this ship extremely quickly as well. From reports on the human's status that I received from Soundwave, the human had been continuously studying the recordings of the ships and learning from them. Almost immediately she had learned to respect me…and now in retrospect I realized that it was partially due to her respectful stance toward me at our first meeting that I had permitted her to live…and my brief studies of her in the past few solars has shown me that she seemed to be growing even more respect in not just myself…though my own of her hadn't increased much, but in the sparks of my soldiers as well. I had heard overwhelming praise from Knockout about how useful the human femme had been in cleaning his med bay and finding him an assistant from among the drones to help him and Breakdown in the med bay. Soundwave had also reported to me how, even with the modifications to his room that he had to make for her being a drawback in her staying here, she had proved helpful in keeping Rumble and Frenzy in line without causing too much trouble.

…Though it seemed like Starscream and Thundercracker would disagree with how they were covered in black and pink paint and an assortment of other pranking essentials. From what I had been told, they had just finished cleaning themselves so they could go on patrol looking for energon deposits.

"L…Lord Megatron…" The human addressed me hesitantly. That was something else I was surprised about. In the solars since our rescue of Skyquake, this human had started to address me as Lord Megatron. It was unexpected but yet another positive for her in my opinion. "Would you…well…would you like to join me? Knockout was supposed to come and pick me up from here but…well…he hasn't shown up yet. I'm playing a human game called Risk."

She…Lizzie was asking me to play with her when she knew that I could probably kill her if I wanted to on a whim. Something was definitely interesting about this human and the only way that I could study her more now was to indulge her. So, I moved to my throne and sat at it, making sure to face the holographic board that I slightly enlarged so I could participate more easily in this 'game'. I noticed that Lizzie was watching me hesitantly and I was glad she was. From how she was acting, I could tell that she nervous about being around me and unsure as to what exactly do. I suppose her asking me to join her would be the best thing her organic mind could come up with.

I motioned to the display and changed the program to only have one computer controlled army before I addressed the human. "Since you are waiting for somebot to pick you up, then I shall indulge you femme. We shall play this game until I say otherwise." She nodded quickly and waited…I'm guessing for me to pick my army color. "I shall be the purple army."

The human nodded at that and immediately chose the green one while the computer randomly selected the red army. This would be a very interesting game and I knew that, by playing this game, I was going to learn enough about the human to decide whether I was going to keep her alive. While the human showed that she observed her primitive reactions to those stronger and more powerful than she was…which many of her species seemed to forget so easily, I needed to know that she could mentally keep up with the rigors of being on the Decepticon ship to fully assist our cause and if she had a sharp mind to assist in plans like she had with the satellites.

"You're move Lord Megatron." She motioned to the holographic board.

Smirking, I started to set up my pieces in strategic locations on the board. I was not going to make this easy for the human in front of me and I hoped for a challenge from what I had caught her playing like. "Very well."

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

My disguise's heart was hammering my insides like it needed to. Of course, I couldn't blame it. I was just coming down from my terrified high. As of only a few minutes ago, we had been able to get the base cleared of the terrifying creatures that were known as scraplets and get Optimus, Arcee, Blurr, and Cliffjumper back from the Arctic before they froze.

Even though my disguise was an organic human, I still found myself deathly afraid of the scraplets. Thankfully, I was able to pull off the excuse that they reminded me of piranhas and I had to make up some story about how my company had a trip to the Amazon and I almost got attacked by a school of the creepy fish. So, now that our scare here was over, my heart was trying to calm itself from the fear of being devoured by scraplets. They were on my actual body now and I knew that they were slowly eating me alive. Hopefully, if we were able to restore my spark, I could convince some of the bots to go through my body and exterminate the parasites.

"Paul, make sure to keep an eye on Blurr's core temperature. It can't fluctuate or it could cause major damage to his systems." Ratchet reminded me, which caused me to focus back on what was going on around us.

Nodding, I motioned to the monitor that was keeping track of Blurr's status. "Got it covered Ratchet. You all need to relax though."

Sentinel, who was showing marks from the scraplets, growled at that. "Great, we get attacked by scraplets and we have to let the humans start on our repairs. There had better not be anything wrong with my systems after this human or I will come after you personally." That was, of course, directed at me. With the increased number of bots around us we all had to split up the bots into groups so us humans could keep an eye on them. Raf had Bumblebee, Blaster, and Eject and, since they had all been at base, he was to make sure that they weren't still leaking energon from their wounds. Miko was looking after Bulkhead, Ratchet, and Cliffjumper and they were all being looked at for energon leakage due to the scraplets attacking. Jack was lucky and only had two bots to look after…though while Arcee was fine I was worried for Jack looking after Pitch as well.

Anyways…I was looking after Blurr, Sentinel, and Optimus and they were a mix of freezing damage and energon leaking. Blurr and Optimus had been great patients but I was getting ready to offline Sentinel with his constant complaining. If it wasn't for the current height difference between the two of us…and the fact that I didn't want any of them knowing that I was their god, I would have put Sentinel Major in his place. The mech was seriously annoying and I was very much regretting staying here at the base.

"Sentinel you need to just chill out." Cliffjumper commented from his berth. "We should be happy that Paul and the kids were here today."

Ratchet, reminding me that there used to be a timeline to this show, stayed on beat with what he was supposed to say. "Yes. We're just fortunate that this infestation happened…on a Saturday."

Optimus nodded and motioned to the four of us working. "Our human friends may be small, but they are strong."

It felt nice to be complimented. Unfortunately, I knew that it wasn't meant to last. While everything seemed to be going fine, I knew that this would be messed with in three…two…one…

"AH!" Miko suddenly screamed out, causing Raf and Jack to jump in front of her.

"Scraplet?" Jack asked with worry. But, I knew that it wasn't going to be that. So far, Miko hadn't screamed for the scraplets and now wasn't any different.

This was proven correct when Miko continued yelling. "Spider!" She then started to jump around looking for the spider while everyone gave her looks of disbelief. "Is it on me?" She then went screaming and jumping away from her monitor.

Everyone just stared after her with looks of disbelief, including myself, before Bulkhead spoke. "Did she just scream like a little girl?"

I could do nothing but facepalm. It made me wonder, however, if Lizzie was dealing with this kind of drama on the Nemesis…if the Decepticons still had her alive.

 **Starscream's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

This solar had been going on for so long and I could only hope that everything was running smoothly. I had been scouting for energon deposits all solar, except for getting stuck in that prank, and I knew that almost everybot else was being kept busy by Lord Megatron. He was almost desperate to find more troops to come to Earth to fight. Logistically, we were outnumbered and I knew that would make the coming battles more difficult against the Autobots. True, we had the drones, and they were slowly getting better at fighting, but they would not be near trained enough for the battles that were coming ahead. A lone Autobot could take out fifteen to twenty of the drones during the opening course of a single battle and that was not even including all the injuries that the other drones would take.

We _had_ to find more troops, and that also meant we needed more energon. While we had our mines, I knew that, with Lord Megatron's plan, that we would soon be stretching even our own reserves thin and that would cause problems among our own ranks. With the increased number of Autobots…especially with Pitch with them…then we were going to need fully cooperative, loyal, and steadfast troops who would listen to orders. I knew that, with Pitch here, that I could not question Lord Megatron like I normally would and I would have to be fully disclosing with any information that could possibly interfere with our effort against the Autobots.

But, for now, I was heading toward the med bay to check on Lizzie. I knew that Soundwave had asked the medic to pick her up from the throne room to watch while the rest of us were out scouting for either energon or troops. However, I knew that there had been that accident in mine YC-235 and so med bay had been busy almost all solar. Hopefully, the human was able to stay out of Knockout's way as he, Breakdown, and Joe worked. I had a feeling that she had exhausted her little organic body and was tired. Since I had no idea where Soundwave was I was going to have to make sure she was alright.

Finally, I arrived at the med bay and, once I opened the door, I walked inside. To my surprise, however, med bay was full of bots and they were all in normal condition. It seemed that everybot who was not a drone was here...besides Lord Megatron. The others turned to me when I walked in before Knockout motioned me over. "Let me check you over 'Scream. It'll be a good lesson for Joe here in how to care for a seeker."

I nodded and walked over to the med berth before sitting on it. While Joe and Knockout started to check me over, however, I noticed something was off. "Knockout…where's Lizzie."

The room seemed to go intensely quiet at that and Knockout looked to Breakdown before saying, "I asked Breakdown to go and retrieve her before coming to help me."

In return, the blue lug motioned to Skyquake before saying, "I ran into Skyquake bringing in more injured drones from the mine and asked him to get her since I know how you run your med bay Knockout."

We all then turned to Skyquake before he shook his helm and motioned to Vox. "I asked Vox to get her because I was late for a patrol in the Arctic." He then shivered. "That place is too cold."

My spark started to sink as Vox shook his helm. "Lord Megatron asked me to check on the status of mine RQY-574 immediately and so I sent a message to Thundercracker to pick her up while I went and checked on the mine."

I was almost frozen as Thundercracker shook his helm and motioned to me…which was not a good sign in the slightest. "I couldn't because I had to go meet up with Skywarp and Soundwave on their patrol. Starscream…" Here it came. "I sent you a message to get Lizzie from the throne room cycles ago."

"I never got your message." The words were coming out of my mouth before I could stop them. This wasn't good in the slightest. If none of us had ever went to the throne room to retrieve Lizzie...

"You mean that Lizzie's been in that throne room for eight cycles?" Frenzy pointed out really slowly.

All of us were frozen in the circle we had created as Frenzy's words echoed in our helms. Eight cycles. Lizzie had been in the throne room for eight cycles. That could only mean one thing…and it wasn't good.

"SLAG!"

We all yelled out, besides Soundwave, before we all ran out of the med bay, leaving Joe in charge of it for now. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Lord Megatron was already on edge with Lizzie being here and if had found her alone in his throne room…possibly on his throne, then she would be offlined. This wasn't good at all. She was both my responsibility and Soundwave's. She hadn't wanted to be on the warship, that much we all knew about her, and now she was either offline or slowly offlining at the servos of Lord Megatron. I could only hope that we could arrive in time to rescue her from Lord Megatron.

It wasn't long before we all arrived at the doors to the throne room and I didn't hesitate to open the doors and run a couple steps inside. I had to stop Lord Megatron and I knew that it was going to be a very difficult fight. Hopefully, I would be able to convince Lord Megatron to…

My chassis froze and my optics widened at the sight that was before them. From behind me, I could hear most of the others still their intakes at the scene in front of us. None of us could have possibly pictured the scene that now was laid before us. It seemed highly impossible and I knew that something was happening that none of us quite understood.

There, sitting on the arm of Lord Megatron's throne, was Lizzie staring up at a projected representation of one of our previous battles on Cybertron. From the looks of it, the battle was the battle of Polyhex. She seemed to be motioning to certain areas of the map and the 'troops' that were there would respond to her motions. Sitting on the throne watching her intently was Lord Megatron. What was going on? He seemed to be questioning her in her strategy for moving the troops in the way she did and then would have the simulation activate to see what would have happened if she was the one in charge of strategy for that battle.

…Was he training her to be a strategist? I didn't think it would be possible…slag I didn't even realize that Lizzie could strategize on a level that would make Lord Megatron use his time in training her. But, here was the evidence in front of us all. While I would still berate myself for not making sure that Lizzie had been picked up, as I had no doubt Soundwave would be, it seemed like this was for the best. That, however, didn't mean that I wasn't in shock. My processor still couldn't compute the fact that Lord Megatron was training with the human in strategy. The two of them seemed to be very into their battle simulation and I doubted that they even realized that we were here.

"Lord Megatron," Lizzie suddenly spoke. That caused all of us to look at the human as she motioned some more troops into position for the third wave of the battle. "far be it for me to question the running of the Nemesis, but I was curious as to why most of your higher command and other soldiers have time to stand in the doorway and gawk at us. Could they be without a project of some sorts to accomplish?"

The smallest of smirks appeared on Lord Megatron's faceplate before he cast a sharp look at all of us. "If that is indeed the situation here, then I assure you Lizzie that it would not take long for me to assign them more tasks to complete. This ship is far from optimal running condition."

That was all we needed to hear and all of us, besides Soundwave who must have already left…sneaky slagger, turned tailpipe and quickly left the throne room to return to the med bay. Once the doors to the throne room were closed, however, I found myself shaking my helm. My chassis felt like I was laying on a cloudburst and I honestly didn't know what to think.

I stayed like that for our entire trip back to the med bay. Once we were all inside, where Soundwave was with his symbiots, we all gathered in a circle and stared at each other in shock for a click. Well, that was before Vox put what was on my thoughts into words.

"What the frag?"

* * *

 **Lord Megatron: *smirks* Lizzie I think you may have a chance of earning your spot here.**

 **Lizzie: *exictied* Really? I'm not going to die soon? *happy dance***

 **Lord Megatron: *crosses arms* Just avoid me finding you on my throne again. I will have you brought to me for our lessons.**

 **Lizzie: *gulps but glares at Soundwave, Skywarp, and the twins* Yeah...that will never happen again. *chuckles nervously***

 **Lord Megatron: *leaves***

 **Lizzie: *glances at Authoress* I can still die at any minute...can't I?**

 **Authoress: *nods slowly* You still have to prove that you are of value to the Decepticons alive. Now, you've just shown that you can be either valuable alive or dead. They wouldn't want the Autobots getting a strategist like you at all.**

 **Lizzie: *cries* This isn't fair!**

 **Paul: *walks in and shakes head* I don't know what is going on right now, but count yourself lucky Lizzie. I'm pretty sure that being here with the Autobots is worse than anything that you are experiencing.**

 **Lizzie: *glares daggers at Paul* Bull...*Authoress covers her mouth***

* * *

 **AN: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it and I know that there is only going to be more fun ahead. It seems like there is a ray of hope for Lizzie's continued existence on the Nemesis. But, she hasn't quite earned the spot yet. She is going to, eventually, have to prove that she can use the training that she is now receiving from Megatron (though who knows who will take over later) in a way that will be beneficial to the Decepticons on a continual basis...What? I'm not going to make this easy for her. Of course, we also got to peek in on Paul and his panic with the Scraplets. Yeah that wasn't very fun and he is going to have to be more careful. Eventually, somebot may just figure out that he is hiding something.**

 **Next chapter isn't going to be during an actual episode. I figure that there was about a day or two before Con Job and so I'm going to do a filler (of sorts) to make the chapters line up with the actual episode numbers. There isn't any Paul parts planned for it (though I may change my mind) because it is mainly a Decepticon centered chapter that will include Lizzie's first trip off of the ship. I won't spoil anything for you but it is going to be a lot of fun!**

 **Well, that's all I have for now. Please leave a review, even to say hi, so I know that you all are out there and that I actually make your days slightly better... Until next time then, TTYL! *tries to make sure Lizzie doesn't tear Paul apart***


	8. Little Surprises

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Lizzie: *chuckles darkly* Oh, this will be fun. *smirks***

 **Skywarp: *nods* Dangerous...but fun. *smirks***

 **Frenzy: *confused* What's going on? Why don't we know about this?**

 **Rumble: *nods* Yeah! What are you two up to?**

 **Authoress: *nervous* Um...if they don't know about this...then I think I'm going to hide...far away. *hides***

* * *

Ch. 7: Little Surprises

 **Skywarp's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I smirked as I moved silently. Never, in all my wild imaginings, would I have pictured that I would be cooperating with an organic, that was so small that I could crush her if I was not careful, to pull something off this crazy. Revenge would be sought against us but this was too much fun and I would _not_ be left out of an operation this difficult to achieve but reaped such hefty rewards! Never before had this been attempted and to do this now, especially in this specific location, was really going to be one of my top three most amazing feats ever.

Glancing toward the human now working on the table, I decided to make sure that I was doing my part right. "So, you want this activator to be on the side of Soundwave's work table?"

Lizzie, in turn, nodded while she placed an activator near the entrance to Soundwave's private wash-racks, and the one that she shared with Rumble and Frenzy. "Yeah. Just make sure that this won't hit anything of Soundwaves. The angle has to be just right or we will have him coming after us as well as the twins. This can _only_ affect Rumble and Frenzy. Only."

Yeah, the two of us had really gone off the deep-end and had decided to lay a prank down for two of the most accredited pranksters on the Nemesis…and in the Decepticon army in general. Here we were trying to prank them and, while the prank itself was relatively simple and had been done to other bots before, Lizzie felt like this was the only way that we were going to be able to pull off pranking the twins without them avoiding the traps and turning the tables on her. It wouldn't affect me since I really wasn't allowed in the room without supervision anyways.

On that first night cycle we were here, Sounders had _not_ been happy that I had gone to his room and found Lizzie there sleeping on a berth of her own. Honestly, I had been so excited and surprised that Soundwave had a little human pet that I had to show my big brothers immediately. Originally, I had warped in there because I wanted to set up a little greeting prank on the twins and I knew I only had a short amount of time to do that. But, seeing Lizzie had distracted me so I had grabbed her and warped back to the bridge and showed her to everybot else.

That's when the rest of us found out that Lord Megatron knew that Lizzie was on the ship and that she was on a rough trial period to prove herself to be of use to the Decepticon cause. At first, I doubted that she would be of any more use than being Soundwave's pet, which I would _so_ be playing with, but over these past solars I found that she really had a sharp fleshy processor on her. Lord Megatron had noticed it as well and had started giving her lessons after the incident in the throne room two solars ago. She had just finished her lesson for the solar fifteen clicks ago and, as soon as the lesson was done, I was ordered to come and pick her up.

When I had picked her up, she had sprung the idea of this prank on me, since Rumble and Frenzy were with Soundwave on the bridge working on who knew what. I had immediately loved the idea and had teleported into Soundwave's room with her. We had then started to put up this trap and, now, we were almost done.

Looking down and not seeing Lizzie, I realized that she must have gone to the washracks to set up the final stage of the trap. Everything had to be perfect for this trap and, from experience with working other pranks with Lizzie now under my wings, I knew that she would make sure that everything worked out just right. After the prank that we did on my brothers the other solar, which they were still chasing me for, we had been able to get Breakdown and Skyquake covered in gooey slime and frag were they upset. But, we were able to run from them until they calmed down. Vox was supposed to be a part of that prank too but he had seen through the trap and had bailed.

When Lizzie walked out of the washracks, I offered her my servo and, once she got on it, I lifted her up before saying, "Okay, so now where?"

She seemed to think on that for a click before snapping her digits together. "Why don't you take us to rec room? Seems like it would be fun and not many bots will be in there, if any. Most have been ordered to work on improving the engine quality by Lord Megatron. Also, we can steal the big screen and watch this prank go off in hi-def."

My grin widened at her response and so I nodded before activating my teleportation programming before warping both myself and Lizzie to the rec room. Once we were there, I wasn't surprised to see that only three drones were in the room. G-3RG and 8r-4DY, or Greg and Brady respectfully, were lobbing with each other on the far side of the room and Joe was lounging stretched out on the couch, seemingly knocked out cold.

Well, I was known for being annoying.

Walking up to Joe, Lizzie thankfully being quiet, I put my helm right next to his audios and smirked before blowing an outtake directly into them. Joe, of course, jolted up-right and shook his helm slightly before turning to us and frowning. "Thanks a-lot you two. I was actually enjoying my recharge for once." He then sat up and motioned toward the general are of the med bay. "Med-bay's actually quiet for once this solar and so I get to go on break, for once, and I can't even relax for it."

Lizzie shrugged at that before placing her servos on her hips. "Sorry Joe, but Skywarp and I would really like to watch history being made on the big screen in hi-definition and this screen is the only one we can access right now to accomplish that."

Joe, in return, looked at the two of us skeptically. "What did you two do?"

I sat down before letting Lizzie sit on my shoulder, and turned on the screen and typed in the necessary sync data for our camera by the trap while answering him, "We are pranking the twins."

It was probably due to how simply I answered his question that Joe's jaw-plate almost fell off in shock and Lizzie almost fell off of my shoulder due to laughing at his reaction. Yeah, I was psychotic, proud of it, and Lizzie seemed to be in the same ship I was. Pranking the twins, if it worked, was going to be a masterpiece that would be talked about for ages to come. I'm pretty sure we would be immortalized as gods of pranking when,

"Hey something's happening." Lizzie interrupted my thoughts as she motioned to the screen.

The three of us glanced up at the screen as we could see the twins enter Soundwave's room from their vent. That was one bit of relief. If Soundwave would have been with them, then he might have tripped one of these first traps and throw everything off that we were planning. Rumble and Frenzy saw the first trap that we laid and immediately disabled it. The three of us could see them laughing at that. "Well, it was a nice try you two. But, they are legends here." Joe sighed as he leaned back.

Lizzie and I looked at each other and smirked before I decided to break the news to Joe. "Oh, the fun is just getting started."

He sat up quickly, his optics glued to the screen, and so I turned back to watch. The twins had just found the disk to go into the wash racks. Since that was out of the way, we changed the camera to the one in the washracks and waited for the real magic to happened. It was really funny to watch them search everywhere for any sort of activator. But, even I didn't know how Lizzie had set up this final part of the prank. She said it would be best if I didn't know. I didn't argue because I wanted to be surprised as well. I knew what was going to happen, but I just didn't know how it was going to happen.

After about ten clicks of the twins searching the wash rack from top to bottom, they finally relaxed and, as they reached for the nozzle, I felt confused. Wouldn't the prank had gone off by now? Glancing at Lizzie, I was about to ask when I saw her smirk grow. Well, even though she hadn't technically earned her spot among the Decepticon yet, she definitely had the dark smirk down. It was kinda scary coming from her. Really.

With her look, I immediately looked at the screen and I smiled broadly as I saw why she was smirking. Somehow, Lizzie had put the activator _inside_ the spout and now the twins were being soaked in the fast-drying paint. Pink paint. The twins were screaming and trying to make their way to the nozzle. But, the floor was soaked in the paint and they kept slipping in it…which meant that more of the pink substance was getting on them.

Letting out a laugh, I glanced at the two next to me and saw that they had different reactions than me, though Lizzie was grinning as wide as I was. Joe's jaw-plate was almost completely unhinged in shock as he watched history being made before his optics. Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that the mech was already sitting, I bet that he would already be on his way to crashing in shock.

Then…then there was Lizzie. She was standing on the back of the couch and was doing some sort of victory dance. She looked really happy that her strategy had worked and I was glad that it had too. With the training that she was getting from Lord Megatron, I was sure that she was going to earn her place. She was different. I studied humanity once I decided that I was going to give Lizzie a chance and, honestly, there wasn't much to be impressed by. But, she was something…different. She knew when to say things and how to act. I mean, she was even calling Lord Megatron 'Lord Megatron'. Most humans, from what I read, were stubborn beings who didn't know how to confirm to something if they weren't in charge of it. But, Lizzie was already calling our leader Lord Megatron and she was able to keep her on unique personality while doing so.

" _Skywarp. Report to the bridge with Lizzie. Lord Megatron has given his permission for her to come and explore the mine we are going to go to. Beware of the twins."_ Soundwave contacted me through private message. I could almost hear the smirk in his message.

He knew that we were going to offline at the servos of the twins.

I glanced down at Lizzie and she was glancing up at me curiously. Joe was still stuck in shock. "What's going on?" Lizzie asked me as I moved my servo next to her.

Once she was on my servo, I lifted it up and moved to walk out of the room. But, when I got to the door, I paused before turning to Joe. "Hey Joe. Might want to snap out of it soon. It's getting close to the time when Knockout and Breakdown go out for one of their cruises. Don't think Knockout will appreciate you being on duty with your jaw-plate unhinged like that."

I then smirked before walking out the door with Lizzie. Once we were a little down the hall, Lizzie tapped her finger on my servo. "So…what's going on?"

"Well, Lord Megatron gave Soundwave and I permission to take you to a mine with us so you could see what it was like. Of course, it won't be just the three of us. There will be two more bots with us." I started slowly.

I could almost feel Lizzie tense when I said those words. She then let out an audible gulp before she glanced up at me. "So…that means we are having the twins with us."

Yep. That meant that we were going to offline. Whelp, it was so worth it in the end. Pranking those twins successfully was a miracle in itself and Lizzie got it down perfectly.

It wasn't long before we got to the bridge and, once we were inside, I had to hold back a chuckle when I saw the twins. They were sitting on Soundwave's shoulders and they were still bright pink. Guess Soundwave wasn't going to let them rinse off until later. This was perfect! When I got next to Soundwave, I glanced at the twins. "So, what happened to you two? Did you mess up setting one of your traps?" I teased them.

To my surprise, they laughed before jumping onto my shoulder next to Lizzie. "Don't worry you two, we aren't mad." Frenzy let out in a laugh before both he and Rumble sat down next to Lizzie.

Rumble nodded at that. "Yeah, I mean you got us good. Of course, that means that we will be getting you back eventually. But, we are going to need time to plan out what we are going to do for this. So, you two are good in the mine." He then smirked. "Plus, the boss said that we couldn't do anything while we are down here."

I could see relief from Lizzie and I felt it too. At least we were safe for a bit and the twins took the prank in good fun. Of course, we were going to have to watch our backs for their revenge prank. I had never seen a revenge prank from the twins, since no one had ever pranked them before to my knowledge, and I could only imagine what sort of vengeful response we were going to have. But, since we weren't going to be at risk of any trouble in the mine, then I would just relax for now. No sense being all up-tight. If I was, I would end up like TC or worse…Screamer!

Shuddering at that thought, I stood at attention, slightly, as Soundwave opened the bridge. Hopefully, this could be fun. I was excited to see what sort of stuff we could find in an energon mine on Earth. But, we would find out now.

 **Soundwave's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I let out an internal sigh as I glanced around mine JC-3902. While I knew that Lizzie was going to be an asset for this phase of the Decepticon plan, she was starting to really shine…and she was being taught by the twins. Pranks. It was difficult enough to keep track of the pranks that Rumble and Frenzy would orchestrate, now with the help of Lizzie and Skywarp, but I had somehow lost track of Lizzie and Skywarp long enough for them to set up a prank against the twins in my room. I didn't see how they set up the prank but I had seen the two of them leave my room and end up at the rec room doors.

Now, Skywarp and I were analyzing the production output and I couldn't help but wonder what other surprises would come about due to Lizzie's stay on the ship. Before Lizzie had come on the ship, life on the Nemesis had become rather predictable. It made life quite mundane really. But, I fell into habits and that was not something that I had wanted to do. The lull of every single click of existence that appeared before Lizzie's sudden…apparition on the ship. Yes, that sounded about right.

It was hard to say that she appeared on the ship because then that would mean that we knew where she had come from. From the research that I, along with a few others on the ship, had undertaken about her, I could see that she was born in a town called Tranquility, Nevada. It was a middle-sized town here in Nevada that had an average population for a human town. It probably wouldn't have much information on it if it wasn't for the fact that the largest technologies corporation in America had its headquarters in said small town.

Cyber Tronics Technologies. CEO Paul Riley Muskogee. From what I was able to find, he personally hired Lizzie Xantara Val two stellar cycles ago to be a secretary attendant to him. From the reports that I found that were about Lizzie, it seemed like she was more than suited for her post and her boss always gave her high reviews on her performance. According to the files that I was able to find on Lizzie, she was supposed to be on a vacation of sorts and wanted to get away to a settlement even smaller than her own. But, then she just vanished from all records and didn't reappear again until she was on our ship. Something strange was going on with her but, for now, we had to groom her into an asset for our cause.

I was surprised when Lizzie was able to get Knockout to tell her a basic version of his past. Of course, I knew that there was much that the mech didn't tell her, but what was even more surprising to me was Lizzie's own reaction to it. She seemed surprised, that was expected, but then she had turned almost understanding of his plight. Nothing in her files suggested that she would feel any sort of understanding to what we went through during our fight with the Autobots, but the look that she carried for a time after that had been genuine. How could she have such an understanding when nothing in her files suggested otherwise?

"Seems like the energon readings are pretty low for this mine." Skywarp commented, dragging me out of my thoughts.

I glanced at the report, and I realized that, while he was correct, there was something strange about the mine. The energy readings that the mine was outputting were immense, suggesting a large supply of energon. However, it seemed like we had almost drained the mine of its energon but those readings remained. It was strange but, if we did not find the source of these energon readings soon, then we would have to pull most of our resources from this mine and abandon it. I knew that the Decepticon cause could not afford to forgo even the smallest quantity of energon in our fight and it would not be right to abandon this mine. But, the wasted resources in locating the energon, since we had yet to find it, would drain more of our resources than we had to spare.

" _Energy full blast. Mine barren wasteland."_ I communicated with Skywarp to show my own confusion with the situation. While the energy readings were still high, the energon readings themselves were almost non-existent and would force us to leave the mine. We compensated for many different energy readings on Earth and, for the signals to be this high…something told me that there was still a large amount of energon here. However, without sufficient proof at my disposal that I could present to Megatron, then we would have to count this mining operation as almost concluded.

Going to type said item into my report, I was stopped by Skywarp suddenly tapping my shoulder. Slowly, I turned to him and waited for him to speak. "Hey Soundwave, have you seen Lizzie and the twins? They haven't checked in with me yet and I can't see them here in this room."

Lizzie and the twins? I took a quick glance around the room, since I was more observant than Skywarp was, and realized that he was right. So, I pinged for the signals of the twins. The signals showed that they were right below us…just under one hundred feet below our current position. What were they doing down there? I assumed that they were with Lizzie but it was dangerous for humans to go that far underground. The dangers that she could face were increased exponentially and, as her Guardian appointed by Starscream during Megatron's absence, then it was my job to make sure that her well-being was taken care of until something could be decided about her fate.

I pinged their signals on my screen for Skywarp could see and he looked just as confused as I felt…of course I would not be letting him know that I was confused. It was best if everybot continued to think that I was all-knowing and all-seeing. Word of that would continue to travel to the Autobots and they would continue to be ever weary of my presence on the battlefield…during the rare times that I was out on the battlefield.

" _Hey boss,"_ Rumble started to speak over the comm frequency that I shared with all of my symbiots. We had a bond we could talk over as well but the frequency was easier to use when we found ourselves working. Before Lizzie's arrival, I used it quite often with them when I would work on the bridge for extended periods of time. " _we found this cool path down here that's not much bigger than we are and we're crawling through with Lizzie. She seems pretty exci…"_ I felt worry as he suddenly cut out and, at the same time, the two signals that I was tracking on my visor vanished without a trace.

While Skywarp looked worried, I knew that he could not feel nearly as worried as I was. These were my symbiots and my human ward. If something happened to them down there it would be my responsibility. Not only did I stand the possibility of losing both of the twins, but I would lose Lizzie as well and, given that Lord Megatron was taking personal time out of his busy schedule to train Lizzie in being a strategist, then he would be very upset with me since, if she died, the time he spent would have been wasted. None of us liked waste, but Lord Megatron hated it most of all. Waste was not something that you could recover. Once it was spent, then it was over with.

" _Hey boss bot you there?"_ Frenzy communicated over our shared bond.

" _Yes, what has happened? "_ I answered my symbiot before asking him why the communication line went down.

I could feel a pause on his end before Rumble jumped in. _"Well, Lizzie says that we lost signal because of carbon deposits around here and frag was she right! This whole area down here is piled with the stuff. According to her, carbon dampens signals and, with enough of it, can hide a signal completely. Sorry if that…holy frag!"_

Carbon deposits. That explained the sudden loss of their signals and caused me great relief. They were alright. I would have to make sure I scanned our other mines for the substance so we could remove it. Once I got the twins and Lizzie back to me, I would have to make sure that we removed the carbon in here. That could be what was interfering with our energon scans. The energy scans would circumnavigate the carbon deposits but the energon ones would not have the same capabilities.

However, there was Rumble's outburst at the end that I had to address. _" Rumble, situation report."_ I ordered the symbiot.

It took him a few clicks to respond. _"Boss bot, tell the miners to dig down another hundred feet. We just hit the jackpot!"_

I knew that Rumble would not give me a false report so they must have found something important enough to divert the mines main work force back in here to dig down to their current location. So, I immediately found appropriate clips before contacting the drones in the mine. " _All units. Report to my location. Prepare to dig 100 feet below the floor of the mine._ " Lord Megatron's recorded voice echoed throughout the comm lines. Even Skywarp, who heard it since he was next to me, flinched as our Lord's voice rang out. Since I was using Lord Megatron's voice, he knew that I was serious.

It wasn't long before the workforce here in the mine had relocated to the main hub here and started to dig down. Whatever the twins and Lizzie had found, it had better be big if we were diverting these resources to find it. Lord Megatron was supposed to come here himself to collect Lizzie to take her back to the Nemesis for her lessons. When he arrived, I needed to have a reason to present to him as to why the miners were diverted to the main hall again.

I had a feeling that Rumble, Frenzy, and Lizzie would be staying near whatever they found so I sent out an extra command for the miners to proceed with caution so we wouldn't risk any of them. While I had a feeling that what we were about to see would be important, it would not nearly be important enough to justify the offlining of Rumble, Frenzy, and Lizzie.

 **Megatron's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

When I exited the ground bridge to our mining operation at Mine JC-3902, I was surprised. The location that I exited at should have been occupied by miners currently working on the remaining energon that the scans picked up in this mine. But, there was not one miner to be found in sight. Soundwave and Skywarp were currently at this location and so I made my way to the central hub of this mine. If they were anywhere, they were there and I had to find out just where the miners were at.

I knew that there had not been an attack, since Soundwave would have reported that immediately. But, at the same time not much would explain the absence of the drones. While I would expect this from somebot like Skywarp, this was highly unlike Soundwave. He was very precise in informing me on changes in the mines…and in anything really. The only times in my memory core when Soundwave did not immediately report to me was when he was taking a chance in something. After the endeavor, whether it succeeded or failed…of which usually the former was true, he would immediately contact me with the details.

If that was the current case, then I realize that I might be walking into Soundwave taking a chance on something. This would be quite interesting and I was curious as to just what Soundwave would be taking a chance on. The only other time, recently, where I had walked in with Soundwave taking a chance was when he kept the information on Lizzie's presence from me until she fell through the grate. He was still taking that gamble, actually, but I was starting to see what Soundwave was betting on.

Lizzie was making leaps and bounds when it came to her current training with me. While I had originally decided to train her in strategy to see if I could cause her to slip up, I was impressed that she was evolving as the training went on. The first lessons that I had shown her, the battle of Polyhex, was a simple battle and I used that to gauge her responsiveness to Cybertronian battle conditions. With only minor mistakes, she took to the battle decently enough that I decided to allow more difficult battles to be a part of our training for the future.

The previous solar, we had been going over the battle of Praxus, one of the contended battles of the war, and she had been able to point out details in the fighting style that even my top strategists had not been able to find. At first, those details seemed unimportant and so I had asked her why she had picked them out. She had then gone on to explain that those details allowed the Autobots to gain an advantage at the Hall of Stars that Praxus boasted before the war. During her mock role in the battle, before she had pointed out the mistakes in the actual footage, she had been able to navigate the troops where, while the battle was still undecided, she lowered our casualties while also allowing us to retain more of Praxus' land than what we would have.

While Lizzie seemed to be moving forward in our lessons, I knew that she still had much to learn before she would be given the chance to prove herself in a battle situation. When the appropriate time arrived, then she would have to use what she had learned and prove to me that she was an asset to my fight here on Earth and, if she was able to do that, then she would become a fully accepted member of the Decepticons.

A light in front of me told me that I was about to enter the central hub of this mine and I would find out where the miners were relocated to. The sound of voices ahead told me that somebot was in control of the situation and I would be more curious as to why I had yet to be informed of any changes.

Stepping out into the central hub, I now saw where the miner work force had been relocated to. Currently, they were slowly drilling down ever further into the floor of the central hub. From the fresh marks on the wall, I could see that there were almost one hundred feet below the original floor of the mine. In front of me, I saw Soundwave and Skywarp watching them closely. While Soundwave did not show any signs of being nervous, I could see that Skywarp was tense about what was going on.

It seemed like it was time that I made myself known. "Soundwave report." I spoke as I walked next to my third in command.

Skywarp let out a shriek and jumped away slightly at my entrance while Soundwave simply turned to me and played a recording of a conversation he had with Rumble and Frenzy. From the sounds of it, they had hit a motherload of energon. This explained why I had yet to receive a productivity report from Soundwave and why he had yet to inform me of his redistribution of the miners to the central hub. He had not personally seen this 'motherload' that Rumble spoke of. If it was not as much of a motherload as Rumble made it out to be, then he would have sent me a negative report including the wasted time of the miners working away from areas Soundwave knew held energon deposits…as light as they were.

" _Rumble, Frenzy, and Lizzie below the surface. One foot away from breaking ground."_ Soundwave reported to me through his clips.

I nodded and turned to the floor where the miners were currently setting up explosives. For this final foot of the dig, they would blast the floor so it would cave in. They couldn't do it before servo since the ground would not have collapsed under the pressure of the explosion. However, if they would have gone farther, then the explosion could trigger the energon underneath to explode and take the mine down with it. That would push productivity loss back even further if this turned out to be a false hope.

It did not take long for the drones to sanction off a portion of the floor for detonation. Once they were all back a safe distance, the one with the serial number 63-N that Lizzie had named Ben flipped the switch and, in the next instance, the charges went off and, at first, the floor held. But, after a few nanos, the floor crumbled down to reveal a cavern that had rested below the ground. My optics widened slightly in response at what they saw. From the section of floor that had been revealed, I could see pink energon crystals covering the walls. This was high-density energon that would require less use of it to actually energize our troops while, at the same time, tasting better.

Movement from a corner of the exposed area moved my sights until they were locked on Rumble, Frenzy, and Lizzie. All three of them were looking up at us and, while they had smiles, I noticed that Lizzie's eyes were locked on me and that they were nervous. She knew that she was still under scrutiny and she was acting accordingly. Time would tell if she would earn her place among my troops. Until then, I would continue her lessons until I no longer needed to.

* * *

 **Lizzie: *laughs* Yes we finally did the impossible! *falls to floor laughing*  
**

 **Skywarp: *laughing to hard to say anything***

 **Rumble: *sighs* Well, they got us good. *smirks***

 **Lizzie and Skywarp: *pause out of nervousnes***

 **Frenzy: *smirks* You know what they say...Revenge is a dish best served cold...ice cold.**

* * *

 **AN: And here it is! I really enjoyed writing this chapter...as much as I can with filler chapters. I'll admit it. I'm not a fan of the filler chapter but this is one that had to happen. We get a peak into Soundwave's thoughts on Lizzie plus some of the research that he has done on her. Of course, he is missing some things but I'm sure he will get it in time.**

 **...And of course we get to see a rare event in the twins getting pranked! Oh I had so much fun writing that scene that it made the whole writing this filler chapter. Of course next chapter will see some filler chapter qualities but we are going to be taken on a whirlwind of adventure and a close brush with death for one of our new bots. While I'm not sure which bot it will be...Well actually I do but you will find out later. *smirks***

 **Thank you G1ntsuk1 for your review! I hope this chapter is a great continuation of this story so far and I hope you keep enjoying this story!**

 **Now that is all I really have for now. Until later, I hope you all drop a review...even to say hello. Well, until next time, TTYL! *watches as a mystery writer solves mysteries***


	9. Surviving a Misadventure of Sorts

**AN: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Authoress: *pokes at dead bug* I hate bugs.**

 **Knockout: *nods* Me too. They're not all they're cracked up to be.**

 **Lizzie: *shakes head* I think you two are talking about different bugs.**

 **Knockout and Authoress: *Shake head/helm* Nah!**

 **Lizzie: *face palms***

* * *

Ch. 8: Surviving a Misadventure of Sorts

 **Vox's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I focused my optics in concentration as I moved the wiring under my digits. This was pretty precise work and, if I wasn't careful, I could end up pushing back the entire Decepticon operation here on Earth. Currently, I was working with Soundwave in repairing the groundbridge and I knew that, if I wasn't careful, I could mess up the ground bridge so it might send its targets to some unwanted destination. That could be a critical loss in a matter where time was of the essence.

About thirty clicks ago, I had been on the bridge with Soundwave trying to listen in for any activity on the Autobots when Skyquake had come in and said that Breakdown had tripped by the groundbridge and ran into it. Since Breakdown isn't exactly the smallest bot out there, he damaged said bridge. So, Soundwave felt like this was a good opportunity for me to learn about the repair of the bridge just in case he was preoccupied and couldn't get to it.

Of course, I was kinda glad for this chance. I worked in intelligence and learning so first servo how something as complex as the groundbridge worked was a very rare opportunity. Somehow, I would have to thank Breakdown for causing this in the first place. " _Watch for twisted wires. Make everything inverted."_ Soundwave interrupted my thoughts as he motioned to the wires that I was holding in my servos. It was a good thing that he said that. I was sure that, when he said that things would get inverted, that meant that the coordinates would be switched around when we put them in there.

"Thanks for the catch Soundwave. I don't think Lord Megatron would appreciate it if I screwed this up." I thanked the third in command. Of course, Breakdown was currently getting yelled at by Lord Megatron for messing around the groundbridge in the first place. I don't know what he was doing and, honestly, I probably don't want to know.

I fixed the twisted wires and was about to move on when a small voice interrupted me. "Hey Soundwave! Vox! Mind if we watch you all work?" Turning to look up at the vents, I smiled when I saw Rumble, Frenzy, and Lizzie, who had just spoken, up by the vents.

" _Don't cause problems."_ Soundwave said to the three in an affirmative. All three nodded before they sat at the edge of the vent, the human in the middle.

The human was a strange thing for me to see when Skywarp had suddenly warped onto the bridge with her when we arrived. Yes, when Lord Megatron had contacted both of our groups, he had Soundwave send information about Earth so we would be prepared for the new battleground, but I had been planning on taking some time to explore the planet and finding out a good chunk of information from them. When everything had settled down of course. But, when we had been brought to the bridge for roll call, Skywarp had suddenly grew a smirk and vanished.

Back when this happened, I thought that he was going to go set up a prank for the twins, since they were good friends from what I had heard, but that seemed to have been changed. When Skywarp had returned to the bridge with the human, I immediately realized that she was familiar with being on the ship and so that meant that she was known to be on the ship. This theory of mine was proven correct when Lord Megatron said that Lizzie was on a trial run to see if she would be able to make any sort of contribution to the Decepticon cause. I realized, at that point, that Lizzie would be able to answer many of my questions about human.

I soldered a bit of circuitry for the bridge and continued to work as I let my thoughts about the human continue. To my surprise, a couple solars after we had arrived on the ship, the human had found me alone and had asked to talk with me. She told me that she was trying to meet everybot on the ship and she hadn't gotten to me yet. Now that I thought back on the following conversation, I realized that Lizzie probably got more information out of me than I had out of her. She was smart. That much was obvious. But, none of us realized she was smart enough to catch Lord Megatron's attention so he would teach her strategy. While he wasn't the best strategist out there, Lord Megatron's strategies were not sparkling play. There were few bots out there who could say that they had the strategizing capability in their processors to go pede to pede with our leader.

After moving a few more wires around, I finally closed the panel that I was working on and turned to Soundwave. "All done. Now we just have to test this thing out."

Thoughts of exploring Earth suddenly jumped to my processor and I was about to ask Soundwave if I could test it when Rumble beat me to the punch. "Hey we'll test it. There's this island that Lizzie told us about, called Easter Island, and she talked about these big statues of human faces. There aren't many people on the island and we'll make sure to stay out of sight! Can we boss?"

"Yeah can we boss? Lizzie can be our tour guide!" Frenzy added in.

While Lizzie didn't add anything to their plea, I could see what looked like excitement in her 'eyes', which was what humans called their optics. She probably wanted to get out of the ship for some fresh air and, while I knew she was recently allowed down into one of the mines, actual fresh air would probably do the human some good.

Soundwave seemed to look between the three of them before he nodded and started to walk up to the trio. Since Soundwave had given his okay, I moved to the controls and, after looking up the coordinates for said island, I punched them in. 27.1127° South, 109.3497° West. That would place them at the island. After I got that in, I narrowed the coordinates to a location that would have the least human population that was still close to these statues. As I did, I continued to look up information. The place was a tourist attraction, so the three of them would have to stay on guard so they wouldn't be caught by other humans.

"Be careful you three. I don't think that any of you would like it if Lord Megatron had to deal with one…or all of you getting into trouble there." I warned the three of them lightly.

Lizzie looked up to me and smiled before saying, "Don't worry Vox. We won't be there for that long. Just want to see the statues and then get back. I have lessons with Lord Megatron in thirty clicks so we have to get back quickly." Ah, so this really would be a quick trip. Lizzie knew better than to miss any of her training sessions with Megatron. She was still proving herself to be a use to the Decepticon cause. It would not do her any good to be late to one of these lessons.

Once the groundbridge was activated, I felt relief when everything seemed to look stable. That meant that the system had been repaired correctly and I would have yet another skill in my arsenal. Being able to repair the groundbridge would be a very useful skill to have if the coming battles that Lord Megatron spoke of in his plans eventually came to light. After this test was finished, I was going to start studying the specs of spacebridge technology so I may even be able to help repair any damages that may come to the new spacebridge that Lord Megatron already had in the works.

My attention went to the three beings in front of the now active bridge. The twins seemed excited to see these 'Moai' statues that were the main attraction on Easter Island. I had a feeling that Soundwave would be going through many pictures of these statues. Lizzie, I had a feeling, was mainly excited to just be getting some fresh air. Since humans were a species that spent a good time of their lives with their feet planet-side, Lizzie was probably yearning to get her feet on some solid, stationary ground.

My research also showed that Lizzie had a chance to 'escape' the Nemesis during a recent raid by the Autobots on this ship. According to the twins, Lizzie had been in an almost perfect position to have the Autobots 'save' her and yet she had stayed quiet during that point. For some reason, she seemed attached to our cause and I hoped that, beyond all hopes, that Lizzie was able to prove her abilities to Lord Megatron.

Once the three of them walked into the bridge, though, things went to the Pit.

The groundbridge suddenly flared a dark maroon color and, in that instance, I knew that something was wrong. Soundwave and I flew to the bridge and immediately started to look for the problem with the bridge. But, before I could even reach the damaged area from earlier, the dark maroon bridge suddenly burst forward and sparks flew from the technology powering the bridge before, after one large burst of sparks, the bridge closed and the system was fried.

Immediately, I turned to Soundwave, who was at the controls. "Soundwave, can you trace them?" After a couple of clicks, our third in command shook his helm at me. "Are they still alive?"

This question took Soundwave a little longer to respond…and I didn't like it. " _Weak, the force is with twins. Lizzie's status; unknown."_

Slag! I had to fix this and quickly. While the twins were still alive, we didn't know where they were! Plus, I wasn't even sure that Lizzie was still alive and, after all this time that Lord Megatron has spent training her in strategy, I had a feeling that Lord Megatron was going to put my helm on a bronze platter and hang it up on the bridge so everybot would remember what it was like to make him angry.

With that mental picture in mind, I raced to the damaged sections and worked on getting this thing put back together again.

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"Hey 'Bots, Wheeljack's ship is almost to the landing zone." Blaster announced to all of us as we waited. The other solar, we had all been hanging out at base, with the exception of Blurr and Bumblebee who had been out on energon patrol, when a call had come in. Long story short, the call happened to be Wheeljack and he said that he was heading toward Earth to help out in the fight. Of course, that told me that we were around the timeline of Con Job but, as I now realized, events were going to probably be completely out of whack.

And I had both myself and Lizzie to blame for that. I had no idea how she ended up on the Nemesis when I was sure my transport of her here would have landed her somewhere in Jasper. Also, she was on a ship that was probably full to the brim with bots who would not mind if she was killed. I mean, Megatron was the big one I was worried about. From what I knew about his personality, which was a lot, he did not like waste on his ship and, if Lizzie couldn't prove herself to be of use to Megatron, then I knew that he would not hesitate to kill her. I had to get her off of that ship as soon as possible. Normally, if the timeline wasn't so out of place, then I would assume that we would have a chance to save her during Out of His Head. But, with the fact that Megatron did not get put into stasis due to the spacebridge exploding, I had no clue when the next chance to save Lizzie would pop up.

Then, there was the addition of all the new Cybertronians on both sides. On the Autobots, we currently had Ratchet, Bulkhead, Arcee, Bumblebee, Optimus, Cliffjumper, Blaster, Eject, Blurr, Sentinel, and Pitch. I still couldn't find much on Pitch and it was really bothering me. But, I hadn't been able to contact Lizzie since after the spacebridge incident so I couldn't ask her about him.

And thinking on that, I also haven't been able to ask her for a full roster list of the Decepticons. I knew that Megatron was still lively as ever, and there was Starscream, Soundwave, and the drones. But, now I had to deal with Skyquake along with Starscream's two brothers; Skywarp and Thundercracker. But, that was all I knew. If there were more on the Nemesis, I hoped to learn about them from Lizzie soon.

But, I needed to get back on track. "You think he's here to visit?" I asked taking Raf's line for this part. I was hoping that, with me saying it, that maybe the story would follow script. But, with my recent luck, I doubted that would happen.

"Maybe he'll stay!" Miko asked while looking she was about to bounce off the walls at any second. Her scenario was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to happen. I just needed Wheeljack to get here, stay for a bit, and go. I didn't even care now if Makeshift made his appearance or not. I just needed something to go right. Please?! Miko then paused. "Hmm, he'll have to find his own human though."

Um…how about not? I was sure that the Autobots were crowded enough with the four of us who were here regularly at base and Fowler when he showed up from time to time. Plus, if we got another human…well, I was worried how Sentinel and Pitch would react to them. While I still didn't see what made Lizzie so afraid of Pitch, I could see that they were on the fringes of the Autobot support and that they really didn't like 'us' humans that much.

"So," Jack started, taking me out of my thoughts, "Wheeljack's gonna land halfway around the world and then you'll bridge him here?" He sounded confused as to why the Autobots would do that. I understood part of his concern since it would be a lot of energon to transport him here.

However, there were greater concerns to think about. "We can't risk revealing the location of our base just in case the Decepticons are tracking the Wrecker's ship." Sentinel answered in a very snappish way. Like I thought earlier, he and Pitch were on the fringes of the Autobot support.

Since that didn't seem to be evolving into a good conversation, I followed Miko to watch Bulkhead pacing back and forth. "Dude! I've never seen you so stoked!" Miko commented on his pacing.

Bulkhead looked toward us and smiled widely. "Oh, you're gonna love Wheeljack! We were like brothers!"

Blaster then jumped in next to Bulkhead and smiled before adding, "And tonight, we're gonna party like theirs no tomorrow!"

"Sweet!" Was Miko's very enthusiastic response. Of course, I couldn't blame her. She was meeting another Wrecker and one of Bulkhead's close friends. I bet they were all going to have a lot of fun together.

The sound of typing drew my attention to Ratchet as he typed some things into the groundbridge controls and, after a click, he opened the ground bridge. "Ground bridge cycling up." Ratchet announced. Not so much to my surprise, the system did not malfunction like it had before. Well, that seemed like the normal run of things now. Do exactly what Paul _didn't_ want you to do. Slagging timeline.

Once the bridge was fully open, Optimus turned to everybot. "Blaster, Bulkhead, Arcee, and Blurr. You are with me to bring Wheeljack back to base. Everyone else, remain here until our return." The five of them then went through the groundbridge.

It wasn't long before Optimus sent in the request for a groundbridge and Ratchet fired one up. That was too quick. I had a feeling that meant that the Decepticons had not been at the landing zone to intercept Wheeljack. That meant that, more than likely, we would be getting the real Wheeljack coming through the bridge.

Once all six bots were through, Ratchet closed the bridge as we all gathered as close to Wheeljack as we could. "Sorry it took so long bots, but that gravitational pull coming down put a real beating on the Jackhammer." Wheeljack stated as everybot was now gathered. Thankfully, I still had enough ability as Primus to tell that this was the real Wheeljack. So the Decepticons hadn't ambushed him. That was strange.

Optimus nodded and held out a servo toward Wheeljack, "I wish to welcome you to our team. I hope you plan on staying for a while?"

Like I figured, I could see the urge to reject Optimus' offer, like he should, about to roll off of his glossa. But, just when he was about to speak, I noticed that his optics wandered over to where Pitch and Sentinel where standing. I looked toward them too, discretely, and noticed that both of them were shooting Wheeljack glares. What was going on? Looking back at Wheeljack, I noticed that he was glaring right back at the two bots. I had to get some information about what the tension was all about and, hopefully, Lizzie would be able to get me even more information when I could finally get in contact with her.

But, until then, I had to watch all of this transpire and be clueless. "You know what Optimus? I think it is about time I had a change of pace. It's an honor to be a member of your team. As for how long I plan on staying, well, I think the action is happening here on Earth. I'll just be staying for a long time because of that."

The looks that Sentinel and Pitch were sending Wheeljack got worse and I still found myself regretting asking to live here at the base. Something told me that things were going to be taking a turn for me, and I had a feeling that they would not be turns for the better.

As everybot seemed to disperse, I was about to follow Miko to find out some more information about Wheeljack when I felt like I was being watched. Straightening, I glanced out of the corner of my right eye and saw that Sentinel and Pitch were looking over toward me. Odds were in favor that they were looking at me. Whatever they might be planning, I feared that it would have to do with me. If they enacted this before I got more information on Pitch, then I feared that I would be playing a very dangerous game.

Moving to where Miko was, I got that thought out of my head…for now. While it was worrying to think that Pitch and Sentinel had something planned, I knew that my services were best used in helping the Autobots prepare for whatever the Decepticons were building up to. I didn't like this period of inactivity on their part. It made me worry about Lizzie even more.

 **Rumble's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I frowned as I watched Lizzie walk ahead of us. It had been about a cycle since we had woke up after the groundbridge explosion and, at first, I thought we had been transported to a different planet since I couldn't reach Soundwave on the comm and even the link we shared was hard to communicate with due to all the moisture in the air. We couldn't even send words through it. All we were able to send to the boss was that the two of us where alive. Lizzie had soon discovered, however, that we were actually in a place called South America. The reason she was able to discover this, however, was part of the reason that I was now frowning at Lizzie. We had found a river, which Lizzie realized was called the Amazon, and had waded slightly in to wash off some of the scratches that she got when we landed.

Frenzy had seen it first. The red bellied fish that had been about ten inches long. Lizzie had been splashing water onto her legs when he saw it swim up to her. He had pointed it out to her, hoping that she would think it was cute to look at.

…However, everything went to scrap after that.

Lizzie had immediately started to run up on shore. We didn't understand why until the fish had jumped out of the water and, as Lizzie's feet had touched the dry shore, the fish had latched onto her leg and had started to tear at her left leg. Thankfully, it hadn't done too much damage before I obliterated it with a shot. The fragging monster! I couldn't believe that something like that existed. Lizzie had been worried about the damage and so I decided to pull out a book that we had gotten off of the human shopping site called Ebay.

And her seeing that book caused part of the now silent treatment that she was giving us, even though we wanted to take care of her leg better. What was that book? Well, it was called 'The Idiot's Guide to Taking Care of Your Human Pet'. Frenzy and I thought that it would be a good book to have just in case something like this happened. But, Lizzie hadn't liked it so she had simply ripped a part of the shirt she was wearing and wrapped the ripped part around her leg before she had the three of us move on.

About thirty clicks after that happened, Lizzie had made a comment about trying to find some high ground so we could get a call to Soundwave so he could locate us. She even said that there were pyramids here in South America near the Amazon River that we could climb to get signal. That was when Frenzy had to open his big mouth and say that, while even with the height of the pyramids we would barely be able to get a message out, that boss would be able to pick up on her signal faster than he would ours since it was solely broadcasting to him.

And that had caused Lizzie to get us to tell her, when she had first been placed in boss' care…right before she met us, that Soundwave had used a gesture that she might have taken as a 'comforting pat on the back' to actually implant a microchip in her so he could track her in case something like this happened. When we had finished telling her this, Lizzie had stared between the two of us for a few clicks before she led the way, having been giving us the silent treatment ever since.

But now, thirty clicks later, I was worried. Lizzie was slightly limping and I could tell that she was avoiding putting pressure on her left leg…where that piranha had attacked her. Something told me that, if we didn't get Lizzie back to the Nemesis by tonight, that she might lose her leg. And, with a leg lost, Lord Megatron would not see a use in keeping her around the ship and terminate her. I didn't want to lose Lizzie. Over these solars since Soundwave first let us meet her, I seemed to think of her as much of a sister as I did Laserbeak and Ravage. With everything that we had been through together…I didn't want her to have to leave us. We needed to get out of this place and quickly.

"Lizzie, are you okay?" I finally asked her as we seemed to near a tree line.

Lizzie turned to me and I flinched at the annoyed look in her eyes. Yeah…she was still angry at us. "I don't know Rumble…why don't you ask that book you have?" She then turned around and continued forward.

Yeah…she was still mad about the book. But how were we supposed to know that she would get offended by it? "Lizzie why are you so mad about the book?"

She had just reached the tree line before she turned to us and I could see that she didn't seem quite as angry…though she was still angry. "Out of the hundreds of medical books that you all could have gotten here on Earth, why did you have to pick a book as degrading as that one? Is that how you view me? Am I nothing but a pet that you all get to play with and dress up?"

I took out the book and looked down at the cover again. Yeah…I guess this wasn't the best book we could have gotten. But, it was so weird that humans would have made a book like this that we felt like it was perfect at the time. I guess we really didn't think about what Lizzie would think about the book if she ever found out about it. "It was the only book that we could get that wasn't full of a lot of technical terms. We aren't medics like Knockout you know." Frenzy muttered in a half argument. I guess he realized the same thing that I did.

But, his argument must have struck some sort of chord with Lizzie for she seemed to go into her own thoughts. After a click, she sighed before saying, "I guess I can forgive you both. But, you now know that you can ask me almost anything and I can answer it the best I can. Right?"

Yeah, she was right. I guess we just wanted to try and be helpful ourselves. But, asking for help wasn't bad. We would ask the boss for help at times just like, rarely, he would ask us. If I really was going to think of Lizzie as a sister, then I guess we could just ask her the questions we had. So the both of us nodded before I answered her. "Yeah Lizzie. We'll ask you from now on."

Lizzie, in turn, smiled a wide smile before she limped over to us and pulled us into a hug. Thankfully, through practice with Lizzie, we knew how to hug her back without squishing her. That would not be a good thing to do…especially now that she had just forgiven us. After a click, I was about to pull away when I felt Lizzie tense. Looking at her face, I saw that her op…eyes had gone wide and they were staring behind us. "Lizzie…what's wrong?" Frenzy asked her.

I'm pretty sure that we both heard her gulp before she spoke slowly. "I saw a pyramid on the other side of the tree line. Can one of you two carry me?"

I nodded quickly. "Yeah I can carry you…but why? Is it your leg?"

She shook her head…but answered positively at first. "Yeah, my leg hurts, but I can normally walk on it. But, we are about to run and I don't think I can run."

…Why would we have to run? "Lizzie…why would we have to run?" I asked her back.

In return, she pointed behind her. So, Frenzy and I did what most normal beings would do and looked behind us. Immediately, my optics widened before my systems kicked into action and I picked up Lizzie before running toward the break in the forest and the pyramid.

The sound of movement behind us told me that we had now turned into the hunted and, while we might survive this, the same couldn't be said if that monster caught Lizzie.

 **Vox's 1** **st** **P.O.V. (Thirty clicks prior)**

My spark felt like it was going to break out of my chestplate as I worked carefully but quickly to get the groundbridge fixed. I couldn't believe that I had somehow lost the twins and Lizzie. Well…I was half responsible. But, I had a feeling that if we didn't find them before Lord Megatron found out, then I was going to be the one getting in most of the trouble. Soundwave was too valuable to the Decepticon cause…and it was two of his symbiots that were currently missing along with Lizzie. Me…not so much value as the third in command. With how I was moving on the repairs, I figured that it would be maybe another twenty clicks before I completely repaired the damage to the bridge and we were able to try and locate where Lizzie, Rumble, and Frenzy were.

Of course, I didn't want to be the one that had to tell Lord Megatron about this. But, if he came here looking for the twins, or Lizzie, or even to see what either Soundwave or I were up to, then I would have to let him know what happened. At that point, well…I was pretty sure that my life would be hanging on by a wire…a very _thin_ wire.

But, as strange as this situation was, and the fear for my continued online status, I still wasn't regretting my shift from the Autobot side to the Decepticons. All those millions of stellar cycles ago, back when I was a loyal Autobot, if somebot would have told me that this would have been my future…I probably would have shot them. But, I never could have predicted the events that led up to me becoming a part of the Decepticons and serving under Lord Megatron.

 _Flashback_

" _Everything's clear on my end. What about you Vox?" I heard a femme voice echo in my audios._

 _I knew that voice very well. That femme was my partner of about thirty stellar cycles now and, honestly, I trusted her completely. When I first met her, she had seemed a little on the fringe elements of the Autobot side. But, from how she acted around me, I knew that the rumors of her attacking bots for credits were full of scrap. My partner was one of the most trusted bots I knew. If I couldn't trust her, then I would have to trust a Decepticon…and I didn't see that happening._

 _Laughing into the comm, I answered the femme back. "Come on little Ember. You don't have to be so formal. But, everything is quiet over in my sector." I glanced around me as the disheveled remains of our once beautiful homeworld. Buildings that once stood tall and proud were now decimated piles of rubble. On some, the fires were still burning from an attack that happened thirty cycles ago. Little Ember and I were now leaving Praxus after two cycles of exploration. While I had told little Ember that our mission was a bust, I was planning to surprise her when we got back to base with the fact that I had downloaded the entire Praxian database onto a drive before the system had imploded._

 _Back to the present, however, "Vox! My designation is not 'Ember' and you know that! Call me by my designation!" My partner complained to me._

 _But, I just continued to laugh and stuck to it. "Come on little Ember. You know that I can't call you anything else. And you know it makes bots underestimate you on the battlefield." I heard a pout come from her on the other side so I smirked. "But pouting like that doesn't really sell your case any."_

 _The sound of her sighing was the last sound I heard from her before something slammed against the side of my helm and my world went dark._

 _I wasn't sure how long I was out, but I knew that it wasn't long. I had been moved to one of the damaged buildings here in Praxus and I could feel that my servos were bound behind me and to something strong and structural…probably a fallen beam. This wasn't good. I thought that the sweep patrols had cleared this area of Decepticons!?_

 _Realizing that there was only one way to find out the situation now, I onlined my optics and found that they were blurry. I must have been hit on the helm pretty hard for my vision to still be blurred. But, from what I could see, there were two heavy duty bots in front of me. I guess I wasn't getting out of this anytime soon. Even if I could find the strength to pick the lock of the cuffs holding me, I wouldn't be able to fight off two heavy duty bots. So, since my processor realized that pretty quickly, it traveled to the next important bit of information…and the information I was most worried about. "Where is she!?" The two bots seemed to turn to me._

" _Who?" One asked with a mech-tinted voice._

" _Yeah who? I didn't see anybot with you?" A different mech-tinted voice answered._

 _While this would normally mean that I should shut-up so my partner wouldn't be put in danger, I knew something was sounding off. My partner had been close enough to me that these mechs would have seen her as well as me before they knocked me out. So, they had to know that she was around. Maybe they were keeping her somewhere to torture later! I wouldn't let that happen! I wouldn't! "Where is my partner?! I know you slagging 'Cons did something with her and,"_

 _I flinched as one of the mechs slammed his fist against my faceplate. "We ain't Decepticons you idiot Autobot." The one who spoke to me first answered. "We are what I likes to call a 'neutral' party. Getting money for taking out trouble bots for our sponsors. An' this sponsor paid us good."_

 _So these were neutrals. The Decepticons must have paid them to take me out…though I wasn't sure why. My boss, Remcy, was a better target for them since he did a lot of major damage to the Decepticons lately. Maybe this was a case of mistaken identity?...Though Remcy and I didn't look nearly the same, these two seemed to be just dumb enough to make the mistake._

 _So, feeling like I should point out their mistake and let them know who would be hunting them down, since Remcy never let an unnecessary offlining go unpunished, I opened my mouth to speak when another voice cut over mine…and froze my spark._

" _Riptop, I'd keep my vocals quiet around this one. He's might act the idiot but he's got a processor that can put two and two together real quick." My little Ember's voice came from in front of me and I focused the best I could as I saw a lithe frame approach until it was standing almost directly in front of me._

 _It took a click for my vocals to react to the situation I was now in. "But…little Ember…how…_ _ **why**_ _?" I…I couldn't understand this. My partner…little Ember…what was she doing?_

 _Her could and unfeeling laughter ripped through my spark like a poisoned dagger. "Vox you are an_ _ **idiot**_ _! I've even heard the stuff they say about me at back at base. You can't possibly tell me that you didn't think that, with such a quantity of stories, that at least_ _ **one**_ _of them had to be true." But, I couldn't find the strength in me to respond to that, for the answer was exactly that. I had heard all the stories about my little Ember and behind-the-scenes deals but I never believed them. I believed my_ _ **partner**_ _! After a click she seemed to get that. "Oh my Primus, you actually didn't believe them... You are a sad excuse of a mech, Vox, that's for sure…especially for an intelligence mech. I mean, those stories had to have some basis."_

 _She let out a cackle like stream of laughter that tore away at my spark as I heard each nano-click. "Why?" I asked her softly. I couldn't find it in me to call her Ember anymore but I also felt like I couldn't address her by her designation. If I did, then that would make the situation that much more real for me…and I didn't want to believe it was happening._

 _The femme who was my partner knelt down in front of me and put her servo under my chin before smirking. "Come now Voxie, that should be an easy one for you." Her tone was toxic and it made me sick just hearing it. But, I had to know. Thankfully, she didn't pause long. "It's the credits of course. Being a neutral bounty hunter has a lot of perks Vox. But, I knew that one solar, you would eventually discover what I was doing. So, I figured I would get rid of you." To my surprise, she then seemed to pause before she brought her faceplate slightly closer to my own. "You know Vox, I'll give you a choice. Stay here and offline in the Decepticon search party that is about to come through, or join me and my mechs here and see what sort of rewards you can really squeeze out of this war. I bet with your skills…you could make millions."_

 _Anger welled up within me for a nano and, while I couldn't move my chassis thanks to how I was chained, I could show her my answer. So, I built up some leaking energon from the punch that Riptop landed earlier before I spit it in the femme's faceplate. "I'd rather rust in the Pit then help you with anything!"_

 _She let out a small growl of her own and I vaguely heard the sound of a transformation sequence before I felt a burning pain in my left knee-joint. I could feel as the femme in front of me twisted her blade around in the injury. It took all of my willpower not to scream…not to give her the satisfaction of my yells of pain. But Primus did it hurt like the Pit._

 _Primus must have been watching out for me because, suddenly, the other mech came over and whispered something to the femme that had just betrayed me. While my vision was still somewhat blurry, my hearing was just fine and I could just make out words like Decepticons and clicks. That Decepticon party that she was talking about earlier must be about here._

 _After a few clicks, the image of the mech stepped away from the femme before she turned to me. "Well, guess I have to go Voxie. Try to offline slowly. It'll be such a dramatic story to tell the others how I stopped you, a traitor, from getting away with attacking me and trying to offline me. Thanks to that little mishap in the archives I even have the scrapes to prove it and I have your energon me now. That should suffice as evidence."_

 _I then heard as she walked away with her two brutes. Was I really going to offline like this? I was betrayed by the Autobots, and now the Decepticons would be coming around and I had a feeling that I wasn't going to be living long after they found me. How did I get into this situation? It didn't make sense! She…she didn't show any…how could she…?_

" _Hey boss, there's an Autobot still online over here." A mech voice suddenly sounded._

 _And that was the sound of my offlining. As I heard pedesteps slowly walk to me, I felt like my spark was beating in time with them. They were going to offline me. Hopefully, they would let me have a final word so I could tell them that they were being used in a cover-up. Maybe I could get some form of retribution in my final words._

 _When the pedesteps stopped, I gazed up and saw the blurry outlines of three bots. They were big and that made me even more sure of my upcoming demise. "What are we going to do with him?"_

 _Here it came. I just hoped that they were, "You two idiots get him back to base for repairs. Primus looks like this bot could use some. Then, we'll see what he has to say."_

End of Flashback.

I didn't think that I would live past that solar. Now, I feared the same again. But, this time was different. This time, I was the one to blame…along with Soundwave. But, this was my choice to work on the groundbridge and now I had to make sure that everything was repaired and our three adventurers were safely returned before,

"Where is Lizzie?"

I jumped and turned, and Soundwave just turned, as Lord Megatron walked into the room and I could tell that he looked annoyed. Oh great. There went my helm. And I really did like it attached to my chassis so much. Well, there was no point in trying to doge. I doubt I would be able to get out of the way in these tight of quarters. Well, this wasn't how I planned my solar to be…at all.

Frag my life.

Thankfully Soundwave had me somewhat covered as he showed what happened with the bridge before he motioned to the area where we were working. " _Almost have bridge repaired. Then, will look for life signals._ "

Lord Megatron looked between Soundwave and me before he shook his helm. "Then what are you standing around for? Both of you, get to work. The human may still prove to be a valuable asset to the Decepticons and I will not be pleased if she is lost. Also, Rumble and Frenzy have proved their worth over and over time and their return is necessary. Do not stop again until they are located…unless you wish for your spark to cease beating?"

That was all the motivation I needed to run back to the bridge and finish the last of my repairs before I moved next to Soundwave and tried to locate out missing bots…and human. Honestly, though, I found myself relieved while I was typing. I wasn't offline yet. That was definitely the most positive thing in this situation right now.

 **Megatron's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

As I watched Vox and Soundwave work at the controls, I tapped my arm cannon in contemplation. If I lost three assets due to this little trial, then somebot was going to have to pay. I did not waste time and, if Lizzie was offlined during this mishap, then all the time that I had spent in training her for strategy would be completely wasted. Soundwave would already be at a loss because he was separated from the twins right now.

…However that did leave Vox. While I knew his past, and he had earned his spot among my Decepticons, this was partially his fault and, if things went for the worse, than he would be the only one who would not be losing anything right away. I wonder if I had any bronze platters that I could hang his helm up in the bridge. Would help serve as a reminder to others who,

 **Beep**!

We all turned to the monitor and I noticed that there were now three signals showing on Soundwave's visor. However, they were in the continent of South America and they seemed to be rising in elevation…and rather quickly. Also, I noticed that the signal that Soundwave had implanted into Lizzie for tracking her was overlapping Rumble's signal. Something had to have happened if Rumble was carrying Lizzie. If she was offline, then Vox had better start counting down the clicks he had left online. I did not like wasting time. Not at all.

Soundwave then typed in some commands on the controls before Rumble's distorted voice came through. " _Bridge! We n...brid…ake…gia…! Sen…ow!_ " Something down where they were must be interfering with the signal. But, his request for a groundbridge was clear.

Vox typed in the coordinates for where they were and soon, the groundbridge opened. At first, nothing came through the bridge. Maybe we missed the coordinates? I was about to have Vox adjust the coordinate point when Rumble and Frenzy came barreling out of the bridge. Rumble was holding Lizzie and I frowned slightly when I saw that her left leg was bandaged by what looked like a scrap of her cloth armor. The look in her optics showed fear and I couldn't guess why. It was almost the same amount of fear she showed when we had first met.

"Soundwave pick us up!" Frenzy yelled in a panic.

I didn't understand it but Soundwave did as he asked. The reason for this panic was soon discovered when, suddenly a snake that was larger than the length of the room suddenly burst in from the still open bridge and looked like it was on the hunt. I did not realize that organics on this planet, that were hunters, were still this large. However, like most organics, they were easy to deal with. So, once the creature lunged in my direction, I sidestepped its attack before taking out my blade and severing the creature's head from its body. Well, looks like I got to behead something after all this solar.

Once the creatures dead body stopped flailing, and Vox had closed the bridge, I walked over to Soundwave and took Lizzie from Rumble. "You are late human."

My scanners were showing that her heart-rate was working overtime. But, she was abl to overcome that and look up at me. "My…my apologies Lord Megatron. I did not realize that helping Vox and Soundwave test the bridge would take so long." She then winced slightly and her hand reached for her leg. It must be injured. "Or that it would cause so much trouble."

I studied her before I gave a nod and turned. "I will overlook this transgression for this solar. Only this one time though. For now, let's have Knockout take a look at this injury you obtained." The human nodded once and I saw that she looked grateful. Good. With how Lizzie had reacted so far, I was positive that she understood that this was a one-time excuse. Next time she was late, I would find her unworthy to be a part of the Decepticon cause and end her existence.

As we moved toward the med-bay, though, I looked down at the human who was poking her leg while wincing, and I realized that the odds of Lizzie being late for training again were low. However, we would see.

* * *

 **Lizzie: *shivering* Sn...sn...sn...**

 **Knockout: *sighs* Just spit it out already.**

 **Lizzie: *screams* Snake!**

 **Skywarp: *warps in* What's wrong?**

 **Lizzie: *screaming* Snake! Snake! Snake!**

 **Skyquake: *walks in confused* What's going,**

 **Skywarp: *places servo over mouth* Don't ask.**

 **Lizzie: *still screaming***

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter of the story! I hope you all liked it! We get a big glimpse into Vox's past! That was so much fun to write! But, who is the femme that he called 'Ember'? I will say that it is not her name, but does make reference to her actual name. I wonder if you all can guess it?**

Also poor Lizzie, she not only got attacked by a piranha, but found out that the twins had an ' The Idiot's guide to Taking Care of Your Human Pet', found out that Soundwave pretty much microchipped her back in the prologue, and she had to run from a giant snake. (think Anaconda movies for size reference). Then, worst of all, she was late for her class with Megatron. Thank Primus that Megatron was feeling merciful. But don't thank Paul because he can't do anything much here. *Paul complains in background*

 **Anyways, I have decided to start doing something new, so if you stuck around this long you get to see the start of it. As a little sneak peek for the upcoming chapters, I have decided to leak out the next to chapter names at the end of each chapter.**

 **So, *gets into announcer voice* Next time on Resolve of One:**

 **Chapter 9: Upstream with All the Paddles**

 **Chapter 10: Only Logical**

 **Chapter 11:...? (Find out next time! XD )**

 **Well, that's all for now I guess. Make of that what you will. Until next time though, please leave a review. I'm sure Lizzie could use some comfort after that snake attack. *dark laughter* Well, until next time, TTYL! *goes to work on German homework***


	10. Upstream with All the Paddles

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Paul: Wow, for once you get a lot of action around me. Not sure if I should be happy about that or worried.**

 **Authoress: What do you have to be worried about? You are a god after all. What can I possibly do to you?**

 **Paul: *not buying it* Do you want me to count the ways you could mess with me?**

 **Authoress: *innocent evil smirk***

* * *

Ch. 9: Upstream with All the Paddles

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I paced back and forth on the platform as the Autobots were hanging around the base. Miko, for once, was here earlier than Raf and Jack. Jack had to run into work to cover for someone for about an hour and Raf had a tutor session where he was helping an upperclassman study for math class. So, Miko was the only one here that was human like I was. It was a good thing because, even though that was changing the episode slightly, one human would be easier to control than three. True, it was Miko but still, it would only be Miko.

" _Prime!_ " Fowler's voice suddenly rang through the base through the comm.

Ratchet, and the other bots, moved to the screen while Miko came and stood by me. "What's going on Paul?"

I shrugged my shoulders and motioned to the screen. "Not sure. But, let's find out. If Fowler is calling us then it is going to be interesting."

She nodded and the two of us looked up at the screen, which now showed Fowler, before Optimus spoke. "Special Agent Fowler? To what do we owe this call?"

Fowler jumped right into the issue. "I need a favor Prime."

"Of course the fleshy does." Sentinel muttered to Pitch, who nodded in agreement. I noticed that Wheeljack shot a glance at the two.

…Frag it this is why I needed to get in touch with Lizzie again! I did not like being in the dark and it seemed that almost everyone knew about Pitch besides me!

Fowler, thankfully, didn't hear the mutter from Pitch and continued. "I need a favor Prime. I was transporting a device called the DNGS when something shot me down. I didn't get a clear look at who shot at me but I'm a sitting duck out here right now!"

"The what's it?" Blaster asked with a confused look on his faceplate. Yeah, the name sounded weird. But, the effect of the weapon was nothing to laugh at.

Fowler seemed to be slightly annoyed with this question as well. "It stands for Dynamic Nuclear Generation System, AKA the DNGS. It's a prototype energy source that I was transporting to the coast for testing. I could really use an assist." Fowler then paused and looked around before continuing. "I can't wait around just in case whoever shot me down comes back and tries to take this. If they are after the DNGS they could make a big fat primitive weapon of mass destruction."

"And what could this human weapon do?" Pitch asked with an unimpressed look.

In return, Fowler sent a very unimpressed with Pitch and made sure to talk in a serious tone. "If this baby were to melt down, it would irradiate this state and the four next door with massive dose of dangerous radiation…plus destroying most life in those four states."

Miko gulped from next to me. "Um…Paul? Did Fowler say what state he was in?" I shook my head and felt worry. If this episode went too wrong, we could be seeing a nuclear crisis and that would not be good. I just hoped that, contrary to my luck, this episode could stay somewhat on track. If I needed it any time I needed it now.

Thank Primus Fowler decided to speak again. "I'm a sitting duck here Prime. Could you spin up your bridge and send the DNGS to its destination before whoever attacks me get back?"

Optimus shook his helm slowly before answering Fowler. "I'm afraid that sending such a volatile devise through a ground bridge is out of the question. If there were to be an accident during its transmission, the radiation of which you speak could propagate through the ground bridge vortex and harm all fifty states…and beyond."

Well, everyone was now silent. Kind of creepy for the most part but that kind of damage would make Chernobyl look like a glass of spilled milk. Unfortunately, Fowler really looked desperate and I couldn't blame him. I knew that this was MECH attacking Fowler and, everything forbid, if they got the DNGS this time around, then that would cause an international panic. Countries didn't react well when things vanished and weapons of mass destruction tended to be a big deal when they disappeared.

"You got any better ideas?" Fowler demanded as he kept an eye out around him.

"Why don't we escort the DNGS?" Blaster suggested. "We could help out Fowler and provide the best protection for such a weapon. Plus, it would be a sign of good faith to the humans."

"Do we really need to be wasting our energon for a delivery trip?" Sentinel argued.

Thankfully, Optimus shook his helm. "The energon used will be worth the cost to help a friend." He then turned to the monitor, thankfully. "Agent Fowler, I will come through along with Blaster, Pitch, Bulkhead, Arcee, Cliffjumper, and Bumblebee to act as escort for the DNGS."

Fowler looked relieved and I didn't blame him. "Thanks Prime. I owe you one." He then cut the connection.

I knew that I needed to be on this trip, and getting Miko on this trip would be credit for me to her. "Optimus," Optimus glanced down at me and I continued. "my company has access to special roads that we created for faster and safer transport of our technology. I can get you access to the roads. But, I will have to be with you. And, as an added stipulation, Miko needs to come with me. Fowler won't be the best company on this trip and it will be a long trip."

Most of the Autobots looked like they were going to say no to that when, to my surprise, Cliffjumper spoke up. "While I'm not a fan of Paul and Miko coming with us, having Paul with would allow us to finish this mission even faster than we planned and I could have both Miko and Paul with me just in case things go south."

I was surprised that Cliffjumper was the one that agreed with me. After the Skyquake incident, he had always tried to keep me as far away from danger as he could. It had taken so much convincing to allow him to allow me to help the kids patch up the lines when the scraplet invasion happened. Now, he was allowing me to go on a trip that already proved that something dangerous would happen.

We all looked to Optimus for an answer. The Prime was studying Miko and I before he nodded. "Very well."

"Sweet!" Miko let out an exclamation.

"However, Cliffjumper, at the first sign of danger you are to return them to base." Optimus finished. Cliffjumper nodded at that right away. Well, I guess this was Cliffjumper acting as a hovering guardian still. Probably figured I would find a way to go with anyways and, this way, he could keep an optic on me.

So, with that said, it wasn't long before our group rendezvoused with Fowler at his crash coordinates. The loading of the DNGS didn't take long and, in no time, we were on the open road. While we were driving, though, I realized that this episode had already changed in a somewhat large way. Fowler didn't immediately assume that it was the Decepticons that had attacked him. Either Fowler was just too panicked to blame the Decepticons, or maybe something bigger had his attention. With the changes happening in the timeline, we could have set off a course where MECH is a larger threat than was originally intended. If that was the case then this mission was even more dangerous than before. I was starting to worry that bringing Miko with was a bad idea.

"Hey Paul, what are you doing?" Miko asked me from the passenger seat, snapping me back to the present situation. She looked bored and I realized that, since I had insisted on her coming, that I should at least talk with her.

So, I motioned to the road ahead of us, since we were leading the group, before saying, "Well, just thinking about what is going on. Not many people would be told about the transportation of nuclear material and its route. I doubt this was just a random attack either. We are in the United States and most people would not be so…carefree, with losing their lives to shoot down a military vehicle."

Miko nodded and I saw her grow serious as she seemed to think. While she was normally the one that took chances, and many people thought that she was an idiot for some of her stunts, she was showing that she paid attention to what was going on around her. I was now even more glad that I chose Miko to take Lizzie's place instead of Jack or Raf. She seemed to adapt to situations around her quite well.

"Maybe there's some conspiracy to overthrow the government?" She put out. It was amazing that she came up with that answer…since that was technically what MECH wanted to do. It seemed like an insane suggestion to anyone else but, to me, it was a very real possibility. "If there was," She continued. "then they could have people on the inside of the government to keep up with information. They probably intercepted the news that Fowler was transporting this dinglehopper thing full of nuke stuff and then bam! Shoot him down and take the dinglehopper."

That was really close to the truth and I was glad that Miko saw that. Dealing with the bots meant that you needed out of the box thinking. While in most normal human situations, thinking that some dark horse group was going to take over the government was just a little crazy, this was different. Since we dealt with the Cybertronians, these kinds of things seemed to be much more of a reality than one would think.

I was going to respond to her when a fleet of green cars with black stripes raced passed us and, at that moment, I knew that things were going to get very interesting. Glancing in Cliff's rearview, I saw that Silas' helicopter was preparing to get into position. Scrap. "Cliff, I think we have some company." I hinted to him.

Of course, my guardian was ready with a quip. "You think Paul?" He then seemed to get serious as the MECH operative came out from the top of the car driving next to Optimus. "But, these definitely aren't Decepticons."

Pitch then got onto the Autobot communication line. "Really? What do we have to worry about humans for? It's not like they are a real challenge to us?"

"Don't underestimate the little guys Pitch. Trust me on that one." Blaster piped in.

" _But what are humans doing attacking Fowler and the nuclear energy?_ " I heard Jack's voice come from the other side. He and Raf must have gotten there sometime after Miko and I had left.

Shaking my head, I decided to bring everyone back into focus. "We can discuss the why about this situation later. Right now, let's just get these guys to back off and get the DNGS to the next drop off point." I then focused as Optimus bumped the car next to him out of the way.

"Autobots," Optimus started. "maintain your cover and apply minimal force. Disarmament only."

Well, that wasn't so good. These guys had guns and high-tech equipment and they were going to only use minimal force. Great. Now I knew that this was going to,

I flinched as Pitch suddenly rammed the car that was passing on his right against the side of the canyon wall we were driving. What was his problem? He was lucky that the hit didn't cause the car to explode. Not minimal damage. "Sorry about that Prime. Got a little jumpy with them being so close." Pitch sent an apology, though I couldn't tell if he was being very sincere in that apology or not.

"Remember minimal damage Pitch. Humans break more easily than we do." Blaster reminded him and I could hear a worried tone in his vocals.

"That they do." I wasn't sure why, but I got a shiver go through my body when Pitch answered that and, from the look I took at Miko, she looked very uncomfortable with it as well. Seriously, the next time that I got in contact with Lizzie, I was going to ask her what the problem was with Pitch.

"Cliffjumper," Optimus started. I had a feeling about what was going to happen. "return to base with Paul and Miko. This situation is starting to become too dangerous for them."

Yep. We were being taken off the front lines.

But, I really couldn't argue with Optimus' decision. He was trying to look out for our safety and that was exactly how he should react. As Cliff slowed down and answered Optimus, I let my mind wander to Lizzie. Yes, a dangerous subject as of late but it was one that was necessary. During these episodes, the Decepticons were rarely seen, and even in this one the drones were the only ones that were going to be making an appearance. What would happen to Lizzie as more Decepticons made their appearance. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on in the series now that these events had happened.

On the Autobot side we had Pitch, Sentinel Major, Blaster, Blurr, Eject, and the recently arrived Wheeljack…who had decided to stay with the Autobots. As far as I knew, on the Decepticon side, they had Skywarp, Thundercracker, a functioning Megatron, and a now online Skyquake. As long as the Decepticons didn't have any other bots I didn't know about, then we had a slight advantage in competent soldiers.

But back to the point that I was trying to make, it seemed like this dimension was having both Autobot and Decepticon forces gathering here on Earth for some sort of 'War for Cybertron' on Earth. If Lizzie and I couldn't make peace between the two factions, or at the very least guaranteed the victory of one side before that happened, then we would be plunging Earth into a destructive war that would, more likely than not, destroy most of their population. The situation in this dimension was even worse now than it was back when I first hired Lizzie.

I snapped myself out of my thoughts as Cliffjumper stopped moving and I saw that we were in the base. Well, I guess there was really nothing I could do right now. The Autobots and Mech…and eventually the drones, would start fighting over the control of the DNGS now. If the train situation still happened, then I would make sure that I went with Miko. Having too many of us would be a risk but I knew Miko's reactions were sound enough for the situation we were in.

Walking up to the viewing area, I decided to make myself comfortable for now. I knew that this was going to be a long day.

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

If I got through this day without a headache of some sort, it would be a miracle. I had two training exercises for the day and, currently, I was on the second one. The first one had me studying the Battle of Iacon and that had so many complications to it that I did not want to think on it again for the long time. It wasn't even clear who had started that battle, but both forces had come down on the city and strategies had been leaving the command stations as quickly as they were being changed. It had taken me so long to sort out the flow of the strategies and how they were affecting the flow of the battle. Honestly, even though I only say the Decepticon side of this battle, I was impressed by the strategies in place to combat the Autobots.

Once I had presented my mock strategy to Megatron, he had shown me this and, while my strategy would have helped the Decepticons take a foothold in Iacon, and more specifically the Hall of Records, sooner, I had been thrown for a loop by the force of Autobots that had reacted to the capture of the Hall. Thankfully, a side strategy that I had placed into effect had allowed the Decepticons in this mock run to hold the Hall of Records. But, I didn't like how the Autobots had been allowed to get so close.

Now, I felt like the Battle of Iacon was nothing compared to the Battle of Tyger Pax. I was given the limited information that I was given before each battle and, honestly, I was not happy. Back in my dimension, when I was sure this was just some made up culture that humans used to make millions, I had been upset at the Decepticons…one of the few times I was really upset with them, with what happened. Honestly, I guess I was more upset with Megatron than anything.

But, now that I was working with the limited information that they had at the time, I was starting to see why Megatron went as far as he did. His reports before the battle had told him that Optimus was planning on ejecting the All-Spark, the very life of their planet as Megatron described it to me as I asked, from Cybertron to coordinates that, according to the reports, even Optimus didn't know. Besides the city-state that the Allspark would be launched from, Tyger Pax, and the fact that Optimus would launch the Allspark from somewhere inside the city, that was all the information that Megatron had.

So, as I looked at the battle, I knew what needed to be done. "We need to focus half of our troops on fighting on the plains. Megatron, you should be among them. This will allow you to focus on the main portion of the battle. The other half of the forces should be divided in half and should attack the west and east sides of the city-state." I then motioned to the front, where Megatron would be. "Have the scouts keep an optic out for any Autobot who would have more information on Optimus plan. Use whatever means necessary to obtain the information from the Autobots that are captured. Then, once you receive the information you need, you can personally fly to whatever location this Optimus has this Allspark in."

Yes, as much as I hated to strategize like that, I realized that it was the only option. While this meant that Bumblebee would be captured and, inevitably lose his voice-box to Megatron's questioning, it was what I would strategize if I was a Decepticon and the information that I had was this limited.

Megatron studied me for a few seconds with his red optics before nodding and inputting my simple, yet only, strategy that would work for this battle. Honestly, if we tried anything else, then the Decepticons would have suffered even more casualties and Optimus would have been able to simply launch the All-Spark and Megatron would not have had a clue as to even the general direction of the All-Spark…or if it had truly been ejected from the planet. With this savage strategy, Megatron was guaranteeing at least the knowledge of the All-Spark being ejected into space…and since that was the life-line of their species, then that was more important than Bumblebee having his vocalizer obliterated.

…I was losing my mentality…and I really didn't care.

As the mock battle started with my input, both Megatron and myself looked up as Skywarp suddenly teleported in front of us. Something must be going on for him to risk interrupting my training with Megatron again. Last time he did that, Megatron shot at him until he fled the room. I had never seen Skywarp teleport that fast.

"Lord Megatron, Soundwave asks that you and Lizzie report to the bridge. The Autobots are on the move and they seem to be under attack by a new enemy." Skywarp reported as he bowed.

Megatron glanced between Skywarp and myself for a few seconds before he nodded and placed his servo next to me. Once I carefully got on, for I knew not to risk getting Megatron mad while I was climbing onto his servo, Megatron rose from his seat and spoke. "Very well. This might prove to be some present time training."

Well slag. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. I had no idea where we were right now and, for all I knew, this could be Wheeljack coming in. The show was changing enough to where MECH could attack Wheeljack's ship when he was landing. That would make everything even more complicated than it already was. Hopefully, we were on Convoy and I would be dealing with MECH transporting the DNGS. I could deal with that. While lady luck seemed to be favoring me lately, I didn't want to push my luck.

Once we arrived on the bridge, Skywarp having already teleported that, I saw that, besides the three of us, there were Soundwave, Skyquake, Starscream, and Vox in the room currently. From earlier reports, Breakdown and Knockout had bridged to England for some sort of race, Thundercracker was scouting over Russia, and the twins were down on Earth doing…something. Megatron knew but I wasn't privy to that information.

I probably wasn't as worried as I should be about that.

Then, I focused on the movement on the screens and felt relief when I saw that it was the DNGS episode. Thank-you Primus! I was so going to be able to squeeze my way through this. But, I had to focus now. I could already see that things were going to be different from the show because Blaster and…Pitch…were seen firing on the screens. This wasn't so good. While I felt like Blaster might be an okay bot, I had a very strong feeling that Pitch in this dimension would be as bad as the one I was familiar with.

That reminded me that, next time I got Paul on the dream-phone, I had to warn him about Pitch.

"What do you believe we should do Lizzie?" Megatron questioned me.

I glanced at the screens again before making a decision…hopefully a good one. "Gather a troop of scouting drones, about six or seven Eradicons should be alright. Send them down there to study this battle. We don't know much about the force that is facing the Autobots and, since the Autobots seem to be fighting against them, then this new force may be dangerous. I don't think that these humans could hurt us physically one on one, but they seem to have the technology to at least pose the Autobots a challenge. We need more information on them." I then paused before saying, "Tell the Eradicons that this is not a fighting mission. Avoid getting into conflict with the Autobots if they can but, if they do, watch each other's backplates. This is an information expedition."

Megatron nodded before motioning to Starscream. "Starscream, scramble seven Eradicons and relay Lizzie's strategy to them." Starscream nodded before leaving the room.

Now…I was nervous. This was just like the satellite array incident. I was putting my neck out and, if something went too wrong, then I would cease to be.

It wasn't long before the Eradicons that I sent could be seen on the screen and I noticed that they were landing on a cliff far enough away from the Autobots to avoid most detection but close enough to get a feel for what was going on. " _This is Berg, flight leader for this mission. It seems like the humans are chasing a train."_ The DNGS must already be on there. " _There seems to be two of the Autobots' humans in the train as well."_

Wait…only two? I was surprised that Paul wasn't a part of this. I would have figured that the god in human flesh would have wanted to be in this part to try and avoid more problems. But, that wasn't happening. If there were only two humans, instead of three, then that had to mean that Jack and Miko had, like in the show, gone onto…

…that looked too old to be Jack.

The drones had gotten a close view of the humans in the car and, while Miko was there like she was supposed to, it seemed like my boss decided to get in on the action as well while kicking Jack out. If that idiot got hurt and left me here alone to get both groups together, I was going to kill him. Right now, the arrangement that we had would work…hopefully. I would work on getting the Decepticons closer to peace and Paul could work on the Autobots. Of course, my end was a little trickier since I had to earn my place in the Decepticons first while Paul was already a bonified trusted person. But, I would admit that, after that little hurdle, I would be much better situated in convincing my side than Paul would.

I then paid more attention as the drones seemed to move their focus to the helicopter and, more importantly, Silas. I was nervous about how calm he looked, even as he had the tracks blown up. There was no hesitation, no emotion really. That was unnerving. It was even more so now that it was in real life now. This was not good…not at all. But, I couldn't focus on that right now. I had to get everything right so I would pass this little bonus class today. Everything else could wait.

"Berg, can you find out what the name of the human organization is before you return?" I questioned the team. I wanted to make sure that MECH didn't change its name. if it did, I might slip up later and I couldn't afford that. Not now and not ever.

" _Yeah, I'll find out for you all before we,"_ I then heard blaster fire and I had a feeling that, " _Scrap! Lord Megatron, the Autobots have discovered our location. What are your orders?"_

Megatron seemed to think on that for a click, and I was glad that I wasn't being asked, before he spoke. "Berg, sound a retreat for now. This was simply an information gathering expedition and not a combat one. Loss of life should not be risked for it."

" _As you command Lord Megatron."_ Berg ended before turning off the comm. The rest of us watched as the Eradicons confronted on the monitors. I couldn't help but flinch as I watched Pitch ruthlessly strike out against the Eradicons near him. If I would have known that I had…I wouldn't have ever done it. Never. The look in his optics were haunting and it caused me to want and hide. It wasn't out of fear, as it was with Lord Megatron, but of uncertainty as to how far he would go to accomplish his goals.

Finally, the Eradicons could break away from the Autobots and our groundbridge was able to be sent to them. The second part of the bridge opened here on the bridge and so we watched as the Eradicons came out. Berg was only slightly injured, as were Bob and John, but Harry, Ethan, Shawn, and Sorrel, were in rough shape. "Lord Megatron," Berg started as he came in. "permission for Bob and John to help Harry, Ethan, Shawn, and Sorrel to the med bay?"

Lord Megatron nodded. "Granted." Once the six Eradicons left the room, Berg stood at attention as he was about to be spoken to. "Berg, what did you learn of the human organization?"

Berg did not waste any time in retelling his information. "From what we gathered, these humans are a part of a human terrorist organization that wish to reshape this planet in their own image. They seem to be well informed of human government movements and have weaponry that will cause the allies of the Autobots some problems."

"And what is the name of this group?" Starscream asked, having come back in after he had sent the Eradicons out in the first place.

The Eradicon stifled a laugh, barely, before he said, "From what we were able to overhear, this group is led by a human who calls himself Silas, and the group is called MECH."

That caused the laughter around the room like I thought it would. Yes, it would seem strange for them to have a name that denominated gender for Cybertronians. But, while the name was odd, I knew that they were not a group to take lightly. After this interaction with Cybertronians, at least from what we saw with the show, then they would at least be able to evolve their technology to pose even Cybertronians a serious challenge. With the changes that Paul and I…well, mainly I, had made, then who knew what they would evolve into now.

Glancing up at Lord Megatron, I saw that he looked concerned as well. "Everyone silence." The room went deathly silent when Lord Megatron ordered that. "While the name of this human organization is…strange, I believe I should ask our strategist in training what she thinks?"

Scrap. I could see all optics on me and I knew that I had to make a smart call and, while it might seem paranoid to make this call, I didn't want to take a risk. "I believe, Lord Megatron, that we should have a group of drones who can work through human databases try to gather all the information on this MECH organization as we can. While they seem like a harmless group now, they have seen Cybertronians in action and that could cause issues for us in the future."

To my relief, Megatron nodded. "Yes, that followed my own thoughts exactly. Humans are proving that they can be worth more than they seem. We must keep an optic on this organization so they do not rise higher than we would like."

Well, that was good. But, as I thought on MECH more, the more worried that I became. I had a feeling that they would be a stronger force to deal with this time around. I wasn't sure what caused me to think this way, but what I did know what that I needed to contact Paul. MECH was a problem that we could not afford to deal with while everything else was going off script. But, we would see.

 **Cliffjumper's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I frowned as I paced in the base. We had just returned from delivering the DNGS and I was stressed. No, not about the mission. Besides that human group getting in the way, that went as well as it could be. The Decepticons were even easy to take care of since they only sent drones and those drones had retreated not long after we started to engage them. No, I wasn't worried about any of that.

What I was worried about was Paul.

He seemed very spaced out when we had started escorting the DNGS. But, I knew I couldn't blame the spaced-out attitude on that. No, he had been acting very cautiously ever since we had all discovered that his employee, Lizzie, was a prisoner on the Nemesis. That human that I had seen, and who was probably the reason that I was even alive, was the reason for Paul's disconnect with what was going on around him. As Paul's guardian, I wanted to help him with this. But, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to go about doing that. Most beings, in general, weren't that open about sharing their pasts about people who were in trouble…or deceased. It had taken me quite some time to get Arcee to tell me about Tailgate.

Glancing up at the human area, I saw that Paul was alone and he was fiddling with a game that Raf had brought in a few days ago. I was sure that they called the game chess. While I didn't understand how the game worked, I realized that I could at least keep Paul company. But, being in my bot form might hinder the connection I needed to make with Paul to get him to open to me more. So, I decided to use my soliform. We all had them but, with everything that was usually happening around here, we didn't get to use them often. Now, however, seemed like a good time.

So, I transformed into my alt mode and made sure I was out of the main walkways before I activated my program and had my soliform, Chris Jason, get out of the front seat and walk up to Paul. "Hey Paul."

Paul glanced up at me and looked surprised for a second before he relaxed. "Hey Cliffjumper. Haven't seen that kind of thing before. What is it?"

This was a great way to get Paul into a conversation with me. "It is a soliform. We all have the programing to pull this off but we don't get to use it often. The name for this one is Chris Jason while I am in it in public by the way." I then sat down across from him and motioned to the game. "So, I heard you all call this game chess. Want to teach me how to play it?"

In return, the CEO shrugged before setting up the pieces on both of our sides. After he explained the pieces to me and how this was a sort of strategy like game, we began to play. After moving a pawn two places forward to start my turn, I dived into what I really wanted to talk about. "Paul, you know that you can talk to me if something is bothering you…right?"

Paul seemed to hesitate before he moved his knight out onto the board. "Cliffjumper, I know I can talk to you. It's just…" I moved another of my pawns two places before he continued. "I'm not sure how to talk about this."

He then moved one of his pawns two places and seemed to be deep in though. I doubted it was about the game. So, as I moved my castle two places, I spoke, "Is this about Lizzie?"

A black pawn, his pawn, was moved one more place before he answered. "Yeah, it's about Lizzie." I moved a pawn in front of my queen two places. "It's been over a month since you saw her on the Nemesis and I'm worried. She was quiet most of the time but had a bit mouth if she thought something was wrong." He moved a pawn one space in front of his castle.

"So, she likes to speak her mind." I restated as I moved another pawn two places. He moved the pawn in front of his queen two places before I continued. "That might cause her some issues up there Paul, honestly, but I feel like you would have hired her for a reason." I used one of my pawns to take one of his pawns. He countered by using his knight to take my pawn.

Paul nodded. "Yes, I did. Lizzie knew how to adapt to situations around her. It has helped me during many of my meetings." I moved my bishop to take his pawn. He took my bishop with his castle. "But she is so young, and so spirited, that I'm afraid that might take over that quality that I hired her for." I moved my queen in front of my king. He moved his queen in front of his king.

I frowned before moving my horse in his castle's path. I thought he would take me with his castle. But, I forgot about his pawn. I immediately took that pawn with one of my own but I was now upset. I can't believe that I didn't see that. "Paul, you know we are trying everything we can to find her…right?"

The CEO moved a pawn two spaces. I moved my bishop one space. He then moved his own bishop one space before continuing. "I know you are Cliffjumper, but it is so hard to just sit back and wait. I got to where I am today by working hard and being active." I took his knight with my bishop and he took that with his own bishop. Seeing that my queen could take his castle, I struck. But, I forgot about his bishop and he took my queen.

Frowning, I moved my castle to a striking distance. He moved his pawn up one space. I shook my head and spoke. "Paul, I can imagine it's hard for you. It's like if I was kept out of a battle against the Decepticons. But, sometimes we have to give up doing what we want for the greater good." I took his pawn with my castle.

And I immediately regretted that when he took my castle with his queen. That wasn't good. Quickly, I moved my remaining knight into a position where, next turn, I could take his bishop. But, he moved that bishop and took my last castle. Seeing that, I moved my knight and took his pawn. I was hoping that he would take my knight with his queen and then I could use my pawn to take his queen.

"I understand the greater good is important," Paul started as he studied the board. "but I built my company on saving all that I could." He then moved his last knight forward. What was he doing? I responded by taking his pawn with my knight. "It's like this game Cliffjumper. Right now, you technically have more pieces than me. But, think of the pawns like drones. You have risked your strong fighters and now," My soliform eyes then widened as he took my knight with his last castle. "You sacrificed your king's closest allies to try and destroy mine. But, I used my pawns and managed to trap you." I then moved a pawn up in hopes of distracting his queen.

But, that didn't work as he just moved his queen and he had my king in checkmate. "I lost." I muttered as I stared at the board. True, I was new at this version of the game, but we had a similar game on Cybertron, Fullstasis, and I usually was pretty good at it. But, I had let Paul take me to the car-wash in this game.

Paul sighed and started to reset the pieces. "You need to remember that those around you are very important. I run my company like I play chess. I am the king and the other pieces on the back of the board are those people that I trust with my very life." He then held up his queen, and I saw sadness in his eyes. "Lizzie is like the queen. While there is no romance between us, and there never will be, she is one of my strongest protectors. She can move in any direction that she needs to protect her objectives." He then held that piece close to him. "But now, she is missing and in danger. I can only move one space at a time, much like the king on the board, and it is driving me crazy."

I looked at my own queen and sighed. So much for me cheering him up. I just ended up causing him to think of Lizzie more while I got my aft handed to me. "Paul, we will find her." I added as a last-ditch attempt to help him feel better.

Thankfully, Paul smiled and nodded. "I know." He then motioned to the board. "You Autobots are represented by another piece on my board and I trust that you will help me find her with whatever you have." He then stood up and stretched before sitting back down. "So, you want to play another game?"

Smirking, I nodded before moving my pawn two places forward. This time, the game would turn out much different.

* * *

 **Paul: Well, that wasn't so bad. I beat Cliffjumper at chess.**

 **Cliffjumper: Hey! I was just learning chess.**

 **Blurr: *walks in* But didn't he beat you in the next fifty games you played before Optimus came in and beat Paul in their first game?**

 **Cliffjumper: *mouth open* Wah...Uh...HEY! *pouty* It's just...I was going easy on Paul.**

 **Paul and Blurr: *sarcastically* Sure.**

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed! I know I did. We got our first peak at MECH (don't worry they will be coming in more later). Also, we get to see Lizzie practice some of her strategist training with Megatron. Looks like she would have made the same decision as Megatron during Tyger Pax. Seems like Lizzie is starting to embrace her role on the ship (though it isn't official yet...and may not even become official). Then, we had that fun chess game at the end and we get some insight into what Paul's plans were, if you noticed. I didn't make it obvious but it is definitely there.**

 **That's all I have for this chapter. Now as a good girl, I had best announce the next chapters' titles! *announcer voice.* Next time on Resolve of One!**

 **Chapter 10: Only Logical**

 **Chapter 11: Aiming for the Checkered**

 **Chapter 12: ? (Find out next time!)**

 **Well, that's everything. Please leave a review, even to say hello! Flames will be used to prank Pitch and Sentinel. Until next time then, TTYL! *listen to Iron Man by Black Sabbath***


	11. Only Logical

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Lizzie: This...is odd.**

 **Authoress: *confused* What's odd?**

 **Lizzie: *points down* I don't have a point of view. At all. I thought we were focusing on me for now?**

 **Authoress: *laughs* Well, you wouldn't be much use here. But, Paul makes up for it. XD**

 **Rumble: *walks in* What are you two talking about?**

 **Lizzie: *sighs* Nothing at all Rumble. Let's go prank Vox.**

* * *

Chapter 10: Only Logical

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I was hoping that the rest of this day was not going to be like it was when I got up this morning. This morning? Well, I had slept in after staying up into the early hours of the morning trying to contact Lizzie. There had been a point a couple of days ago when I thought that I had felt Lizzie on the conscious stream…and it had been a bundle full of panic. So, between training with Cliffjumper in soliform and waiting for Deus Ex Machina to start its tracks, I had spent any and all free time trying to get Lizzie on the mental link. I needed information and, at least with one important bit of information, Lizzie seemed to be my best beginning source.

That was the information on Pitch. While there were some Autobots currently at base who could tell me the information that I wanted to know, I wanted to go into those conversations with some background history on him. Every single time I spoke with the mech, I became more worried about what his role in the battle of Earth was going to be.

…Anyways, back to my morning.

I woke up to Eject shaking me awake. Turned out he really wanted to learn more about Earth and, since I was currently the only human at base, then I was his go to human. So, I had told him to give me twenty minutes to get ready. When I tried to drag that twenty minutes to twenty-five, so I could take a quick power nap, I found myself dragged out of my room by a very eager Eject. Thankfully, I was completely dressed…even if my hair was still wet. I had then spent two hours showing Eject all of the sites that would teach Eject pop culture on Earth and let him have access to its history.

After that, I was going to take a nap on the couch when the rest of the bots seemed to be getting up. That pretty much destroyed any hope of sleep. That led me to my current situation now and I was finding that I was probably going to be sleeping tomorrow. Yes, that seemed like a good time. Maybe, if I was lucky, I would get some tonight.

Of course, if this was Deus Ex Machina, then I would have to sleep in the next day. Now I wasn't sure that I wanted Deus Ex Machina to come. That was going to be a long day even if everything went like it was supposed to. With how events seemed to like to go, however, it would make the day even longer. If I was allowed to hope for anything, while everything else might change, please let Knockout and Breakdown still show up. Even though I wasn't sure how important they would be anymore, I knew that we still needed them here on Earth. Knockout even had his own episode…with some side assistance from the other Decepticons. But, the next episode even had a race and, from what I had seen from the Decepticons, they did not have any racers besides drones that could be used in the episode and…let's be honest, they couldn't race at all.

"I love breaking stuff! I want to be just like you Bulk!" I heard Miko exclaim suddenly.

At Bulkhead's responding sigh, I realized that I was not the only one having a bad day. The sound of an alarm going off caused me to realize, with the current topic that Miko and Bulkhead were talking about, that this was it; Deus Ex Machina.

"I'm detecting a fresh energon pulse." Ratchet stated as he stood at the controls. Guess Bulkhead wasn't going to say that Miko could be like Ratchet. Only a small change and nothing to get excited over. I could deal with that. I could really deal with that.

"Where from?" Cliff asked him as he, Bulkhead, Miko, and myself walked up to him.

Ratchet typed a few more things into the console before saying, "From the nation called 'Greece'. An ancient city. Quite historic I believe."

I could almost hear the smirk on Bulkhead's faceplate before I heard him speak. "Ancient Greece huh?" He then turned to Miko and smiled. "Oh field trip!"

Well, I couldn't be kept out of this now could I? "Hey Bulk, room on that field trip for one more? I haven't been to Greece in years. Been wanting to get back for a while." You know, for a god, I really shouldn't lie as much as I do. I mean really.

"Why don't Cliff and I join you all?" I was surprised that Wheeljack wanted to come on this excursion with us. Cliff…not so much since I just said that I wanted to go. While I was curious as to why Wheeljack wanted to go, it still wasn't a big change. I paid attention as Wheeljack continued. "I could use some fresh air and Cliffjumper seems to be like a scraplet attached to fresh scrap lately when it comes to Paul there."

Cliffjumper didn't look happy at the comparison, and I didn't exactly appreciate it. "I'm not that bad Wheeljack." We all gave him a pointed look at that. He squirmed slightly before huffing. "Whatever. I do want to go though."

Well, that was that. Guess we just needed Bulkhead's approval before "The more the merrier." Bulkhead smiled. I guess he wanted to get us to Greece before Miko realized that we were going to be tricking her into writing that paper.

The bots all transformed before Miko and I got into our respective Guardians. Then, Ratchet opened the bridge and, as we were leaving, I saw Pitch and Sentinel finally walk in for the day. Guess that explained Wheeljack wanting to come with to Greece which was, obviously, a trap for Miko. She did need to work at getting passing grades in school if she wanted to do anything…at least passing grades in high school. I might have an opinion or two about the need for a college education.

But, I took myself out of that thought pretty quickly as we finally exited the bridge. As Cliffjumper stopped with the others, I found myself almost racing out of him to look around. If there was any change in the area, I wanted to know about it immediately. We could not afford to be on a different playing field here. With what was supposed to happen, I wanted to make sure that Miko and I would not become human pancakes. That would not be fun.

"Here we are." I heard Bulkhead say as Miko crawled out almost as fast as I did.

"Sweet!" She exclaimed as Bulkhead transformed.

While that was happening, though, I registered the fact that we were in an old Greek theater and, as I took in the rest of the surrounding scenery, I felt relieved that nothing had changed about this. Thank you, lady luck, for this wonderful turn of fortune.

"Enjoying the view Paul?" Cliffjumper asked me after he transformed next to me.

Nodding, I motioned around. "Yes, it is just like I remember. I can almost see what it was like back in ancient days." And I remembered it quite well. I experienced Lizzie's original dimension during that time and it was very entertaining to see what they did back then.

The soft thump of helicopter rotors had me looking around for a second. What was that? But, I didn't see anything to support that sound so I just shook it off and focused in front of me.

Seeing that Miko was by the edge already, I figured I could stand by her when the big bomb was dropped. I had good timing because, just as I stood next to the pigtail haired girl, she asked Bulkhead the leading question. "So…what are we doing in Grecko-ville?" She seemed way too excited for this. Just adding onto the long day.

"We're scouting for energon signals," Wheeljack started with a smirk. Guess he figured out why Bulkhead brought Miko. I wasn't hard to figure out since I said why I wanted to go. Cliffjumper was smirking too as he held the energon locator in his servo.

Bulkhead then took over answering Miko's question. "you're doing research for your history report."

And there was the crestfallen Miko at being played. "You punked me Bulk?" She asked in shock. " _Not_ cool!"

But, Miko and I watched as the bots followed Cliffjumper to the same edge we were at. Once they looked over, I could see the piles of raw energon poking out from the ground. This was going perfectly! Well…technically the humans hadn't exposed the energon in the show but I would take it.

"An excavation site!" Bulkhead exclaimed in shock.

"Whoa." Was Miko's response to that.

Bulkhead seemed embarrassed slightly at Miko's reaction. "I…know construction slightly."

Cliffjumper, thankfully for Bulkhead, took over. "Scanners showing that the humans hit energon veins."

It was Wheeljack, though, who motioned toward the important part of the episode. "Hang on bots, look at that picture." He then pointed to the fresco with the energon harvester on it.

The rest of us looked toward the fresco and, sure enough, there was the image of the energon harvester. Now that I thought about it, this was the first of the relics to show up in the show.

"That's Cybertronian!" Cliffjumper stated in shock.

Bulkhead nodded but seemed confused. "Why would ancient Greeks paint an energon harvester?" The three Autobots then slid down the side to get a closer look at the fresco. Not following along but, again, I could live with it.

When Miko shrugged and took out her phone, I realized that I might want to take a picture as well just in case Miko lost her phone or something. So, the both of us took a picture while Miko said in shock, "You know what that round thing is? You're smarter than you let on."

"And even dumber than he looks."

I froze as I heard _that_ voice. This was not good. What happened to all the nice things lady luck? What did I do to deserve all of this bad luck!? I wish I had someone to complain to but, as a god, I didn't have that kind of luck.

Because guess what? That voice did not belong to Breakdown. Not even close. We all stared in front of us in shock as the towering triple changer approached us. He had to be taller than Megatron at least. Black, gray, and purple coloring helped identify the triple changer, who could turn into a train and a space shuttle, as Astrotrain. This was not good at all. He wasn't even supposed to be in the show. That made three Decepticons that I knew about that weren't supposed to be here right now.

"Astrotrain!" Miko and I both jumped as all three of the bots with us growled the triple changer's name. This wasn't going to be pretty. While Breakdown was pretty strong on his own, Astrotrain was in another league all together.

A shiver traveled down my spine as Astrotrain chuckled, his red optics boring down on us. "Miss me  
Autobots?"

"Like rust in my undercarriage." That was Cliffjumper. He sounded angry and I didn't want to get in his way when this fight started.

However, to keep up with my human disguise, I had to ask Cliffjumper about Astrotrain. "You know that thing?"

Cliffjumper nodded. "He has a…history with the Autobots." I did notice that Cliff smirked at my description of the triple changer.

However, Astrotrain had another idea in mind. "And you have some pets." Was his retort.

Before he could throw anything at us, to my surprise, a ground bridge opened next to the triple changer before Starscream and a strange dark blue and dark gold mech with blue optics walked out. "Astrotrain, Hook, we are here to retrieve the both of you." Starscream spoke in an annoyed voice.

…Hook? I looked around and I about died when I saw the construction crane walk around the side of the hill. The Constructicon doctor was in the house, and I was not happy about this. There was no Knockout, no Bulkhead, a new Decepticon that I didn't know who I could see from his crossed- out insignia used to be an Autobot, and now Astrotrain was here on Earth as well. I knew today wasn't going to be a good day.

I saw the three Autobots around us tense while this conversation was happening and they tensed even more as Astrotrain took a step toward us. "In a click…Commander. I want to test something first." He then turned to look toward us. "Autobots, do your pets play catch?" He then broke off a pillar before launching it at us. "Catch!"

Oh scrap.

Panic flowed through me as Miko and I tried to move away from the projectile aimed toward us. But, remember that little change that the Autobots decided to make? The one about moving to the lower edge _without_ us? Yeah, now they couldn't block this pillar and, even though Miko and I were moving quickly, I knew we couldn't get away. Even moving left or right wouldn't help because Astrotrain had thrown the pillar long ways. Not fun.

Well, looks like I was going to know what a bug felt like.

I flinched as I heard the sound of a transformation and a felt as something landed in front of Miko and I a second before the pillar collided with the light green bot, for it had to be a bot to block that pillar. "Hey, throwing stones at humans isn't cool Astrotrain! Why don't you pick on a bot your own size?" I looked up in shock to see one of the few Autobot triple-changers, Springer, standing in front of the two of us.

"Thanks for that." I was able to get out to Springer.

He looked down at us real quick with bright blue optics and nodded. "No problem. Always glad to help out." He then smiled at us as we ran up to the Autobots' positions.

Cliffjumper seemed very happy to see Springer, which was good. "Springer! Glad you could get to Earth." Ah, so he must have been a part of the other group of Autobots that had been on Cybertron. He made pretty good time.

"Let's teach these Autobots a lesson." Astrotrain growled before running forward.

I was surprised to see Starscream actually faceplate palm at that before he motioned forward. "Let's go get that idiot and get back to the ship. Lord Megatron is waiting, and he is not a patient mech." Well, that certainly was true. Hopefully that impatience wasn't going to be taken out on Lizzie.

The three Autobots who came with us tensed and seemed ready for battle. Springer, however, just laughed before saying, "I wasn't the only one to get here. All four of us got here just fine."

…Did he just say four of us?

My internal question was answered as a large black truck came barreling down the side of the hill and toward Astrotrain's charging position. When the black truck transformed, I did a mental happy mad dance in my head as Ironhide punched Astrotrain out of the way. I was mad that Ironhide was even here but, by this point, I realized that things were changing too much to worry and I just needed to keep track of who was here and who wasn't. So far, the wasn't list only included Knockout and Breakdown.

"Sweet! Bet I could write an awesome history report on the battles between the Autobots and Decepticons!" Miko yelled out in excitement.

I facepalmed. She really needed to get her priorities straight.

The sound of higher pitched engines caused me to focus on the fight as the last two came in. They were both two-wheelers and both had black paint with flames. But, the one on the right had many orange and yellow flames while the one on the left had only a few blue flames. The two bots then transformed into one mech that I didn't know, the two-wheeler with the blue flames, while the other was a femme known as Flamewar. Her past was a little shaky in my mind but, from what I could remember from being whole, she had reported she had been betrayed by a fellow Autobot after the fall of Praxus.

"Flamewar!" I jumped when the dark blue and dark gold Decepticon mech snarled that with fury heavy in his vocals. I could see the want for revenge in his optics just like the original time-line showed in Arcee's whenever she faced Airachnid.

Flamewar, in response to hearing her designation called out, looked toward the dark blue and dark gold mech before smirking. "Vox! It's been so long since your betrayal. I almost forgot you existed." The mech, Vox seemingly, seemed to grow even more angered while a victorious look appeared in Flamewar's optics.

…Something wasn't right. Usually the bot who was betrayed was the vengeful one and the one who betrayed did the gloating. But, right now that role was seemingly reversed. Why was that? Frag it I had too many questions and I needed to get in touch with Lizzie.

…Which would happen as soon as I got away from this battlefield and could contact her.

Speaking on that…

"Decepticons stand down and return to the ship! Now!" Starscream yelled. He did not sound happy at Astrotrain disobeying him like he did. As he said that, Astrotrain threw the two-wheeler mech, that I didn't know, into the fresco sideways. This caused the mech to inadvertently destroy the fresco.

"Oops," Astrotrain smirked as he backed off to join the other Decepticons. "hope the pretty picture wasn't too important to you Autobots." A ground bridge then opened for the Decepticons before Vox, Starscream, Hook, and Astrotrain ran through.

Once it was closed, the rest of us ran to the two-wheeler mech as he was just starting to sit up. "Ow, my aching processor." He rubbed his helm as he said that.

Ironhide laughed at the mech before holding out a servo to the mech. "This is why I tell you to leave the fighting of big lugs like that to front-liners like me you idiot." The mystery mech nodded and smirked at that before standing up. "But, I'm glad you're okay Zarron." Zarron? I didn't know that name either. I had to ask Lizzie about these…and soon.

Flamewar, however, didn't seem so worried about Zarron. "You idiot. You destroyed the fresco you klutz! How are we supposed to find that harvester now?" She seemed like she had a short fuse. Bet Sentinel and Pitch would be happy to have her here. They all gave me the shivers.

Thankfully for this Zarron, Miko and I had him covered. "Don't worry about it bots. We got your backs." I started as Miko took out her phone.

She nodded from next to me and smiled. "Yeah! We got a picture of the picture!" She then held her phone up to the seven assembled Autobots with a victory pose. But, as the bots called in a pick-up, while saying that we had some new additions, I was relieved and worried. I was worried about having another bot that made me feel uneasy at base. But, I was relieved that we had more reinforcements. With there being even more Decepticons here on Earth, and one being Astrotrain, the Autobots needed all the help they could get.

 **Skyquake's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I found myself frowning as I walked to find Starscream. About a cycle ago, he and Vox had returned with Astrotrain and Hook. While I knew enough about Hook to allow me to relax around the medic, I knew enough about Astrotrain to know to not trust him. That was reinforced when Lord Megatron had informed both Hook and Astrotrain, after they informed him that the rest of the group fell behind and would be coming soon, about Lizzie's presence onboard. While Hook looked indifferent to the information, which I expected from him, Astrotrain looked annoyed and upset.

So, I was now making my way to Starscream, who I strangely found as a confidant since my split-spark twin was exploring the far reaches of space currently. It was strange. I felt like, if things were different, then I might mistrust the second in command. But, when I came out of stasis on Earth, thanks to his help along with Lord Megatron's, Soundwave's, Thundercracker's, and Skywarp's, I noticed that he was more focused and loyal to the Decepticons instead of his own personal goals.

Plus, Starscream and I had found a common interest; Lizzie's well-being and training. While Lord Megatron was training her for a tactician role, Starscream and I had been talking a few solars ago and had decided to do some light training with Lizzie in our soliforms. They weren't good for being in disguise among the human population for long, since they couldn't eat, but they could be made solid and that would help us train the human under Soundwave's care. It was through Lizzie, I think, that I decided to try and get to know the second in command better. Now, I took him in as a close confidant and there was a major subject that I wanted to talk to him about. But, I wanted to be in his room before we started to talk about that.

Luckily, Starscream was just coming out of his room when I arrived. "Starscream, can we talk?"

Starscream seemed to study me for a click before he nodded. "Come on in." He then led me into his room and, once he closed the door, he turned to me. "What's wrong?" From the sound of his vocals, he seemed to know that the matter that I was going to speak on was serious.

I glanced at him before I frowned. "I'm worried about Astrotrain."

Starscream, to my surprise, didn't look confused at my sudden statement. I had a feeling that meant that he had been worried about the triple changer as well. "Yes, I am too. He seems to be on edge and that might cause him to lash out at those around him. While we can take the hits decently…" He then drifted off.

So, I picked up where he left off. "But Lizzie is another case. Triple changers in a mood can be very dangerous even to Cybertronians. But for a human like Lizzie, even a small fit can be dangerous. With the mood that Astrotrain was showing on the bridge when they arrived…Lizzie will need to be watched."

"Astrotrain will need to be watched as well." I added. "If he makes it a goal to get at Lizzie, which he might despite Lord Megatron's orders, then he will realize that we are keeping a closer optic on him and work on losing us."

The second in command nodded at that. "Yes, he will have to be watched as well. But, at least with Lizzie, our task of watching will be made easier. Skywarp and the twins seemed attached to her. Plus, after the incident with the ground bridge, Vox has been spending time with her as well."

I nodded at that but, before I could make a comment, I received a text message from Soundwave. From the list of recipients, Soundwave was sending it to everybot on the ship. " _All Decepticons report to the bridge. Information has been discovered about a Cybertronian relic."_ A Cybertronian relic? I didn't expect this planet to hold Cybertronian artifacts but, if Soundwave was reporting it, then it had to be authentic.

"Well, we had better go see what it is." Starscream stated with a sigh before moving to his door. Once it was unlocked, he paused before turning to me. "Let's keep our little project between the two of us for now. Soundwave has my room bugged, so he knows and I know that he will tell Lord Megatron. That is just fine. But, outside of us four, don't tell anybot else. I don't want Astrotrain to get wind of what we are planning."

I nodded and let Starscream lead the way out. It was reassuring to know that Lord Megatron would be kept in the loop. As a loyal Decepticon, I did not want to overstep my place and risk receiving Lord Megatron's anger. But, Starscream knew what he was talking about with this and, from what little I had observed between the two of them, their trust in each other was returning to what it was when the war was first started. That would be a good position for the Decepticon cause. With new Decepticons arriving here on Earth in such a short period of time, I knew that we were going to need their relationship patched up if we were to keep any sort of order. Soundwave could only do so much.

 **Cliffjumper's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

This didn't feel right. I was Paul's guardian. That meant that I was to make sure that he stayed out of harm's way. But, right now, he was risking so much while I was stuck here in car mode, next to Optimus, just waiting and watching. Waiting and fragging watching.

Earlier, with the help of Miko's picture and Raf's computer skills, we had deduced that the Energon Harvester was located in a museum that was situated in Greece. When we discovered that, Jack suggested that we call Agent Fowler to help us retrieve it. It seemed like a good idea and so we had called the man…Just to get his answering machine. I had to agree with Ratchet that talking with machines was such a waste of time. But, with that option out of the way, we had been stuck on how to proceed.

Until Zarron made the suggestion that we steal the Energon Harvester from the museum itself. I didn't know much about Zarron, and I still didn't know what to think of the mech, but he seemed to have a screw loose.

Or I thought he did until Optimus had agreed with him. It was then that I realized that the Energon Harvester could tip the scales of the battle here on Earth in our favor. When we located energon deposits, it would be a simple matter of using the harvester to mine the source of our energy and lifeblood.

But then Paul pointed out that, in is words, 'Giant alien robots might stand out trying to break into a museum' and that 'even soliforms would not be able to react to the possibility of a security interference like a human in the building'. Miko, of course, had loved that idea and had added that the four of them could break into the museum. All of us guardians wanted to refute the idea but, before we could, Optimus had voiced his agreement with both my psychotic charge and Bulkhead's equally insane charge.

…Why were we cursed with them?

Anyways, Optimus and I were parked up front while Arcee, Flamewar, and Springer were parkedon the west side, Bumblebee, Blurr, and Wheeljack were on the east side, while Bulkhead, Ironhide, and Zarron were covering the south side. Blaster, Eject, Pitch, Sentinel, and Ratchet were at base just in case backup was needed.

Meanwhile, Paul, Miko Raf, and Jack were moving the harvester onto a platform they had brought from base. This was all nerve wracking and I just wanted it to be over with. "Optimus, do you think they'll get it alright?" I asked him in a whisper as we watched our human friends.

Optimus, of course, was ready with an answer. "Cliffjumper, our human friends may not be the same as us, but they have their own strengths. Trust in those strengths and trust in our allies. We must keep faith in them and then they, in turn, will have more faith in us."

"You're right Optimus." I acknowledged his statement. "Sorry for doubting them."

Optimus, like the leader he was, already had a response ready. "There is no need for apology Cliffjumper. I understand your worry for them…especially Paul. With his employee, Lizzie, still a captive of the Decepticons, you would be more worried for him. I understand, and I believe that Paul does as well."

I went to say thanks to Optimus when the sound of a motor interrupted my speech. Humans out this late at night? That didn't make sense…It was almost two in the morning here and that was the normal time for even the 'night owl' humans…as Paul described them to me once, to head home to bed. Plus, even if they were awake, why would they come to a museum of all places?

My internal question was answered, however, as the dark blue and dark gold Lamborghini Veneno rolled to a stop right next to me so I was in the middle of our now threesome. Of course, what caused me to realize the answer to my question was when the Lamborghini talked. "Aw, I hate being the last one to the party! You two been here long? I sure hope I didn't keep you waiting." He then let out a laugh. "Now, I hate to leave somebot disappointed, so you can have this to make up for it."

A flash of green caused me to look in my rear-view and I barely had time before I saw the green crane vehicle open a compartment in its crane before it fired a rocket. Optimus, thankfully, quickly transformed and grabbed the rocket before it could blow up the museum. I transformed quickly to help but was knocked to the side by the Lamborghini, who had transformed into Vox. The last thing I saw was the green crane transforming into Hook before my lights went out.

When I woke up, everything was quiet around me and I realized that I was being walked through the bridge to base. "And you were worried about me?" Paul asked with his hands on his hips.

Great. Now I wasn't going to live this down. I looked to see Optimus helping me through so I thanked him. "Thanks for the assist boss bot. But, I think I can walk now."

"You are welcome Cliffjumper." Optimus said before letting go.

Once I was straight, I turned to Paul. "Are you alright?"

Of course, my charge smiled at that and nodded. "I'm fine Cliff. Just a slight bump but I'm good." He then frowned slightly before motioning to the others. "You might want to pay attention to the others though. I think they're going to talk about what to do about Miko and the Energon Harvester."

Miko? What happened with her? It was only then that I realized that she wasn't in base with us. Did the Decepticons get her? If they did, I would track down that Vox and Hook before forcing them to give her to us. They already had one human. Primus be fragged if they got two of us.

"Security got Miko. What are we going to do Optimus?" Bulkhead asked. I could see that he was worried.

But, Optimus had the situation under control. "Bulkhead, Miko may be detained, but she is safe from harm. Until we can get in contact with Agent Fowler, that is the best place for her." He then turned to the rest of us. "For now, we must locate the Harvester. I have no doubt in my mind that the Decepticons will use it to mine for energon as quickly as they can. So, we shall split into scouting groups. Be wary, however, as I doubt the Decepticons would hesitate to turn the Harvester on us." We all stayed quiet at that somber note before Optimus continued. "Arcee, Wheeljack, Springer will investigate un-minable energon stockpiles in the west."

"Got it Optimus." Arcee stated before Ratchet sent that group to their first location.

"Flamewar, Sentinel, and Pitch will search the north stockpiles for any trace of the Decepticons." Pitch simply nodded toward Optimus before the three of them went into their bridge.

"Bumblebee, Ironhide, Blaster, and Eject; you will search the west stockpiles for any trace of our foe." Optimus ordered the next group.

Blaster saluted Optimus before smiling. "You got it Optimus!" That group of four then ran on through the bridge.

So, that meant that I was going to be going with Optimus along with whoever he wanted. "Blurr, you and I will investigate the south stockpiles."

Huh? "What about the rest of us Optimus?" I asked him.

Optimus activated the bridge to his and Blurr's coordinates before he spoke. "You three will stay here and assist Ratchet. Agent Fowler must be reached if we are to help Miko." He then went through the bridge, followed by Blurr, before it closed.

Well, that just happened.

I refocused my attention as the sound of Agent Fowler's message machine ended. Great. Our best hope to help out Miko and we couldn't even get him on the phone. Thanks a lot Fowler. It's a good thing that the world wasn't being destroyed…or the base was being attacked. By Primus you miss a minute of this 'retreat'.

Bulkhead seemed to feel like I did. "Fowler's lounging around some poolside cabana." He growled that, actually, before he slammed his fist down on Ratchet's frame welder. I noticed that Zarron was standing by Ratchet but he didn't seem surprised at Bulkhead's outburst. What was the deal with that mech?

"Bulkhead I needed that!" Speaking of Ratchet.

Bulkhead, however, seemed oblivious to Ratchet's angry outburst. "We can free Miko if we can just return that Harvester to the museum."

"So, the Decepticons can steal it again?" I questioned Bulkhead. Yeah, I got that he was worried about Miko but the only reason she was in that mess was due to us trying to get the harvester before the Decepticons in the first place.

He in return, placed a servo against his helm. "I'm so dumb!"

Paul, who seemed confused, spoke up at that. "So…how are we going to get Miko out of the museum?"

Ratchet sighed before picking up what he was working on. "By returning this _replica_ to the museum. It was Zarron's idea and it makes sense." Ratchet then seemed to grow annoyed. "The construction of which would be going a whole lot faster if Bulkhead hadn't just mangled my frame welder."

I looked at Zarron in confusion before asking, "What made you think of that idea?"

He smirked and motioned to the forgery-in-process. "Well, I figured that we were all already trespassers and thieves. So, adding forgery to our list of crimes for the night seemed to be the best course of action since we can't get this human agent on the line."

When this was all over, I had to look up this mech's file. I couldn't tell what his angle was and I wanted to know it before too long. He seemed to be a giant contradiction and I wanted to make sure that I could trust him completely.

My internal thoughts on the two-wheeler mech were interrupted by Bulkhead. "I wish I'd never taken Miko to the…"

While he was speaking, my own processor was working double time. It seemed like all three of us 'Bots who were in Greece earlier came up with the answer at the same time. "The energon!" was our in-sync answer.

That answer caused Ratchet to jump. "What do you three mean?"

Bulkhead was the one who took over. "The fresco of the harvester wasn't the only thing we found at those ruins."

Zarron nodded and took over. "As much as I wish they were, the Decepticons aren't dumb…no matter what kind of tools they have, they will go after the most readily available and unprotected source of energon quickly so we can't gather it ourselves."

"They are going to go back to the ruins in Greece to collected the energon from the veins the humans accidently found there." I finished off the idea. Then, I turned to Ratchet. "Ratchet, bridge us to the ruins from earlier. We'll get the Harvester back."

The medic nodded before he moved to the ground bridge controls and typed in the coordinates. Once they were in, he opened the bridge for us. Zarron, Bulkhead and I then made our way through. On the other side, it was dark out and I could see Megatron and Starscream standing by as Vox supervised the drones as they used the Harvester to bring up the raw energon from the veins.

"We need to be careful that they don't hear us coming." Zarron whispered to us as we moved closer to the drones' location. "If we can get close enough to the drones, we can take out whichever one is holding the Harvester and take it before those three can launch an assault on us and call for reinforcements."

That sounded like a good plan and, for a few clicks, that seemed to work. We almost got in striking distance when the sound of breaking pottery caused me to freeze and glance behind me. Below Bulkhead's pede were pieces of broken pottery.

Frag it Bulkhead.

All the Decepticons turned to us before Megatron pointed at us. "Decepticons, take care of these Auto," Megatron didn't even get his full order out of his mouth before Zarron was suddenly landing in front of the drone with the Harvester and taking it. Well, that was easy.

What wasn't so easy was Zarron tossing it back to me, which I caught and put in my subspace for now, before he said, "Bulkhead, take on 'Screamy. Cliffjumper, think you can handle Vox?" I was guessing that he was talking about Vox.

"Yeah, but what about you?" I yelled after him as I ran at Vox.

When I was about half way to Vox, Zarron yelled back to me while he ran forward. "Sometimes it's best for the fly to distract the giant."

Wait…that meant that Zarron was going to try and distract Megatron! He was crazy! Vox and I clashed blades and we ended up in a deadlock for a click. During that deadlock, I yelled at Zarron. "You're crazy you idiot! I'm telling Ironhide when we get back!" No wonder Ironhide hit him earlier. I would hit him too.

It didn't take the two-wheeler long to respond to me. "Just shut your vocalizer and fight Cliffjumper, or are the stories I've heard about you fake?"

…That mech was already too good at pushing my buttons.

But, I didn't let that distract me as Vox made a move and caused me to jump back to avoid getting skewered. "You should focus on your fight with me Autobots. When I take you out, I'll take back that Harvester to give to Lord Megatron."

I glared at him for a nano before charging back in on him. "No way you traitor! How could you leave us to join with those murderers?"

What I wasn't suspecting, after we ended up in a deadlock again, was for Vox to start laughing. After a few clicks of this creepy reaction, Vox finally answered me. "That's the easiest question I have ever been asked. It's because you Autobots didn't give me any other choice."

"Excuses!" I yelled at him before shoving him back. "Is that the lie you tell yourself to make everything better?"

He got angry at that and charged at me wildly. I saw how he was going to attack though and I decided to take some revenge from earlier and knocked the traitor out. He was unconscious before he hit the ground. Well, if I brought him back to base, we could put him in lock-up and discover what really caused him to defect. So, I reached down to restrain him.

But battle instincts had me jumping away from him and, it was a good thing I did. For not a nano later, a cannon shot barreled through where I was standing. Did Zarron lose his fight with Megatron and did Megatron do that? I turned to look but, as my optics set their sights on who was really responsible, I felt my spark grow cold. It wasn't Megatron who fired that shot. But, it was a mech from my distant past.

Shockwave was on Earth.

"Lord Megatron, I apologize for my delayed arrival." Shockwave asked in that monotone voice of his.

I flinched as Zarron was knocked away from Megatron and toward me, by the warlord himself, before Megatron responded. "Did you locate what you were looking for Shockwave?" Megatron asked the cyclops scientist.

In return, the mech nodded. "Yes, my lord. Is there anything else that needs to be accomplished here?" This wasn't good. If Shockwave joined the battle, then that would mean trouble for all of us.

The sound of a ground bridge opening caused all of us who were conscious, which was everybot but Vox…who Shockwave had started to pick up, to look toward the side and I felt relief when I saw Optimus and the others run through. That meant that, most likely, the Decepticons would,

"There is nothing else for us here Shockwave. Decepticons, return to the ship immediately." Megatron ordered. A ground bridge for them opened up and, soon, the Decepticons were gone from the field.

Seeing that Zarron was having difficulty walking, I moved over to him and helped him stay steady on his pedes. He was lighter than I thought he would be. If I got to know him better, I would ask the mech why that was.

"Autobots, were you able to retrieve the Energon Harvester?" Optimus asked the three of us.

Thankfully, I could answer him positively as I pulled it out of my sub-space. "Got it right here Optimus." I then handed the devise to Optimus before dropping the bad news. "But Optimus, Shockwave is on Earth."

He took the Harvester before nodding once. "Yes, that does not bode well for us. Shockwave is a highly intelligent Decepticon scientist and he will prove a challenge to us." He then held the Energon Harvester so we all could see. "But, let's celebrate our victory. We will have easier access to energon now. Also, we were able to get in touch with Agent Fowler and he is on the way to get Miko as we speak." That caused a cheer to come from Bulkhead.

But, as we headed back to base, I felt worried. It wasn't normally like Megatron to retreat like that. We had taken the Harvester from him but, as soon as he got word from Shockwave, he had returned to his ship like the Energon Harvester was trivial compared to whatever it was that they had found.

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

A tired sigh escaped me as I fell back against my bed. Today had been a very long day and I was ready for a long and stressful sleep. Oh, I knew it wasn't going to be peaceful. There were too many changes to deal with to make it anything but stressful. Not only did we have new bots come into the fray, some even new to me in this form, but we had some other unexpected surprises.

First, there was no sign of Knockout and Breakdown yet and we were now officially past Deus Ex Machina. What would the timeline now hold for us since they were not in it? It was something that I now had to count as my reality. Unless I could contact Lizzie and find out otherwise, then that was what I had to go with.

Then, there was the arrival of fragging Shockwave. Shockwave! He wasn't supposed to get here until season three! But now he was here season one and I couldn't do anything to change it. Did that mean, though, that Knockout and Breakdown would be coming around in season three? That might make sense since Shockwave was here already.

However, speaking of Shockwave's arrival, that brought me to the third confusing bit of today's excitement: the Autobots had the Energon Harvester. Not just a copy, which they did put in the museum, but the actual genuine Harvester. It was supposed to be destroyed but now it was ready for Autobot use. That could only mean more changes to come.

But, the surprising bit of information to myself personally was after the Autobots returned. Pitch, Sentinel, and Flamewar had approached me and offered to help me train while they were in soliform. Since they were being so direct in asking, I couldn't say no to them. But, I had a feeling that was going to turn into something dangerous for me if I wasn't careful.

A wave of exhaustion hit me and so I settled down into bed, my pajamas already on. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out to the world.

 _And I found myself in the special dreamscape that I had been in once already this trip. That meant that, unless one of the Primes was playing a prank on me, I was about to be contacted…and it was about fragging time._

" _Paul, I'm glad I caught up with you." Lizzie spoke as she suddenly appeared. I frowned when I noticed a few scrapes and cuts on her body._

" _Are you alright Lizzie?" I asked as I motioned to the scrapes._

 _She looked confused and glanced at where I was pointing before she seemed to realize what I was talking about. "Oh those. I'm getting some training here on ship. Nothing dangerous but I slipped up a couple of times…and once literally." I wanted to ask her more on that but it seemed like she had a plan for today. "Paul, I need a list of the Autobots with you currently. I need to keep track so I can make sure I can keep up with who is where."_

 _I nodded as she said that. She would need the information more than I did. While some bots at the base made me nervous, Lizzie was on a ship full of bots that would not hesitate to kill her if the orders came._

 _So, I started with the obvious ones. "Well, we have Optimus Prime, Cliffjumper, Ratchet, Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Blaster, Eject, Blurr, Sentinel Major, Pitch," She flinched as I said his name and that reminded me that, after I listed these all off to her, I had to ask her what the deal with him was. "Wheeljack, Flamewar, Ironhide, Springer, and Zarron." To my surprise, she looked really excited when I said Zarron's designation. That was strange. The two Autobots I knew nothing about and she showed completely polar opposite reactions to both of them. "Lizzie, what can you tell me about Pitch and Zarron?" I figured I would ask about the motorcycle mech as well._

 _Lizzie flinched when I said Pitch's designation again before she answered. "Paul, as you know, I was a fanfiction writer back in my home dimension." Right, I had even brought it up in her interview. But, what did that have to…oh. "When I was writing about the Dragon Scouters, I also created the Virons. One of the most well-known and dangerous Virons was Pitch. Paul, if he is even half of like how I wrote him, then you need to stay as far away from him as you can and never be alone with him. Ever. I'm serious about this Primus." And I could tell. I had never seen her look so serious about this kind of thing. Plus, she had used my name. That told me even more that she feared her 'creation'._

 _Of course, it would be kind of hard to do that since I had just told him, Sentinel, and Flamewar that I would train with them. But, Lizzie didn't need to know that right now. "What about Zarron?"_

 _I almost had whiplash at the complete difference of attitude Lizzie had as soon as I said Zarron's name. "Oh I am so glad that he is there Paul. He is kind of in the same situation as Pitch."_

" _Meaning he is one of your OCs?" I asked her._

 _She nodded before continuing. "Yeah, he was one of my well-known Dragon Scouters. In my stories, he was my most trusted scout. He was fragging good at what he did and he didn't take scrap from nobot. But, he won't always reveal his servo right away. Trust him Paul, even if he is only half like what I made him."_

 _Well, that was a better review. I would definitely be asking Zarron to come and train with the four of us if Lizzie gave him that high of a rating. But, now I needed the same information that Lizzie asked of me. "Lizzie, I need to know what Decepticons are on Earth right now. I can't help out any on my end without knowing what we are facing on this end."_

 _To my surprise, she seemed to hesitate before she nodded. "That makes sense. There are a lot up here with me and you are going to need all the advantage you can get." That…didn't sound good at all. "Up here we have Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Knockout, Breakdown,"_

" _Knockout and Breakdown?" I asked in surprise. I didn't realize that they were here. "When did they get here?"_

 _Lizzie frowned but answered me. "They got here during the space bridge incident with Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Vox." Well, I guess it was good that they were already here. "Now don't interrupt me. I have more to say and some really big ones to boot." She then flexed her fingers. "Well, then we got Skyquake, Astrotrain…" I noticed that she hesitated with Astrotrain's name and was about to comment on it but she continued on. "Hook and Shockwave." She then seemed to pause before she seemed to remember something. "Oh and Paul! You won't believe who else just showed up…"_

 _And that was where our communication decided to cut off. Frag it! Who else came tonight? The bots didn't mention anybot and I felt like Cliffjumper would have at least told me if somebot else besides Shockwave showed up._

 _Of course, as I drifted off to sleep, I realized that trying to think on this with sleep deprivation was not a good idea. So with a heavy spark, I started to close my mind off. Not long after, I fell into unconsciousness._

* * *

 **Cliffjumper: *cheers* Yes! We get more bots to fight the Decepticons! This makes up for so much!**

 **Paul: *sighs* Except for the fact that Astrotrain is on Earth with Hook and Shockwave. That is going to really slam our fighting capabilities.**

 **Zarron: *walks in* *smirks* Hey Cliff, want to go a few rounds of training? I could use some practice after that fight with Megatron.**

 **Cliffjumper: *anger ticks* Speaking on that. What the frag were you thinking taking on Megatron!?**

 **Zarron: *shrugs* Figured it would be good for experience. *grins* And it was. You can learn a lot from a bot who you fight.**

 **Cliffjumper: *yells* You're crazy! *tackles Zarron***

 **Paul: *sighs* This is not good. I seriously need a drink right now.**

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 **AN: And wow! Here is the next chapter of Resolve of One! I hope you all enjoyed this! Took me forever to write but it was worth every finger-freezing second. So much to go over in this chapter but I think that I can simplify it to say exciting! New bots and changed scenes! I can't help but wonder what these new developments will bring? Also, who is the bot that Lizzie couldn't tell Paul about? I'm debating on when to reveal the bot. But, I will say that when it happens, it will be fun! Also, seems like Paul finally got that report about Pitch from Lizzie, along with a report about Zarron.**

 **With the Decepticons, we get to see Skyquake confiding in Starscream about his worries with Astrotrain. It seems like tensions will start to rise on Lizzie's end now. If Paul knew about it, he would at least feel comforted to know that he wasn't alone. But, he would then get worried about her safety. Oh, and on the fact of Lizzie, I know she wasn't in this chapter much but I felt like she would just get in the way. Don't worry though, she will be having bigger roles in the chapters to come. From this chapter on, things are going to start really moving and I can't help but wonder what is in store for our seemingly two main characters?**

 **Oh, and I would be remiss to not mention the little suspicious confrontation between Flamewar and Vox. Definitely has Paul suspicious. Wonder how that will play out eventually? Should be quite the show when it does though.  
**

 **As you can see, there are many aspects of this story that will weave together. And they will. But, for now, we will watch these events unfold. Next chapter is a small filler but it will have some important character development. Plus...I get to have a little fun as will Lizzie.**

 **Now, for the upcoming chapters:**

 **Chapter 11: Aiming for the Checkered**

 **Chapter 12: Special Training**

 **Chapter 13:...(Find out next time ;D )**

 **Well, that is all for now. Again I hope you all enjoyed reading this and sorry for the long AN. But, this was a long chapter. Please drop a review, even to say hi. So, I guess I'll let you all go now. TTYL! *listens to Fight Song by Rachel Platten***


	12. Aiming for the Checkered

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Lizzie: Ooh...this looks like fun!**

 **Authoress: Remember that this means that I love you.**

 **Knockout: This looks like I might like it too.**

* * *

 **AN: Here I would like to respond to the reviews from the previous chapter that I could not respond to through PM.**

 **Guest: The three of them (along with the nameless (for now) fourth member showed up last chapter before the Autobots went to Greece. I have added a bit more information on that in this chapter so I hope it helps.**

 **G1ntsuk1: Hi! :) I'm glad you like the story! I put a lot of work planning these out (especially this one...the notes I have for it take up quite a bit of room on my Excel program XD ) Pitch is a very creepy bot and I don't foresee it getting any better as the story goes on. I'm glad you like Vox and his creator appreciates it too. I am finding that I am enjoying this one better than the last one too. I get to have more fun with it. New bots (and cons), some backstories that weren't explored, Paul being clueless...*ducks as sharp deadly object is thrown*, and overall Decepticon fun. Hope you keep enjoying!**

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Chapter 11: Aiming for the Checkered

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"I'm still mad at you Lizzie."

I cracked open my eye from my position on the med berth. Two hours ago, I finished training for the day with Stewart Scarlett and Sky Quince aka Starscream's and Skyquake's soliforms. After I was allowed to shower, I was promptly brought to the med bay where Knockout and Joe were going over training so Joe could be a full medic. They were to watch me while they went to report to Megatron.

Since this was my day off from strategist training, so our new recruits could continue to settle in. Out of all four new bots on the ship, the only one that I was worried about was Astrotrain. When I had met him a few nights ago, he had been very…annoyed with my presence on the ship. Hook didn't seem to mind and Shockwave had looked as curious as a mech with one optic and no seeable mouth could.

The last bot…well…hadn't had much interaction with that bot yet but I was pretty sure the bot was going to be alright once the bot got patched up. Hook was working on those repairs in the med bay on the other side of the ship. Lord Megatron ordered me to not interact with the last new bot until the repairs were complete and that meant that I had to wait. There was no way I was going against Megatron for something as simple as that.

But, back to the currently only bot in the room with me. "Really Joe? I thought you had gotten over that?"

The drone frowned at me and crossed his arms. "Oh no. Do you want to know how much of a spark attack I was having when you suddenly volunteered me to be Knockout's backup medic? I mean, come on! We're just lucky that Knockout decided to actually listen to you."

Hang on, it wasn't like he didn't get anything out of this! "But,"

"Don't you 'but' me Lizzie." Joe interrupted. "I've heard your 'but you got something out of it to' routine before. Sure, I may have gotten access to better medical information like I wanted, but you used me to pay off a debt to Knockout that you owed him. That's definitely not cool."

Well, logical arguing wasn't going to work. Time for different tactics. From practice, I got my eyes to water slightly on command before I looked up at him with a sad look. "I'm sorry Joe. But I really thought you would benefit more than me." I then sniffled slightly for effect. "I didn't mean to make you this upset with me." Oh yeah, I was good at this.

That was proven even more when Joe took half a step back with a nervous look on his faceplate. "Um…Lizzie? Frag it I know you can do this on command but that's not fair!" Joe argued against the look. But, I just kept it up until he finally sighed in defeat. "Fine! I won't bring it up anymore! Sheesh talk about evil."

And like that the 'tears' were gone and I had a smile on my face as I sat up. "Good. I need somebot to talk to and you're the only one in here right now." I then frowned and looked around. "Speaking about that…where is everyone?"

Joe sighed and leaned against the counter behind him before answering me. "Well, Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp went to get some flight practice in, Skyquake, Breakdown, and Astrotrain are keeping an optic on a few of our mines since the Autobots got the Energon Harvester." Yeah, that had been a surprise to hear about when the bots who went to harvest the energon got back. That thing was supposed to be destroyed and yet, it was still active.

"What about the medics?" I was still surprised that we had two professional medics on this ship right now. It was strange to think about since, from Paul's report the other night, the Autobots only had one. Both sides were gaining troops and yet only the Decepticons had increased the number of trained medics they had. That would put us at a clear advantage against them. I wasn't sure if I was happy or upset about that yet.

"Well," Joe started. "Hook and Knockout, as well as Shockwave, are working on the other bot who came the other night."

Yeah, that bot. I wasn't even allowed to think about them in much detail that was how much the Decepticons did not want the Autobots to know that this bot was here. If they found out too soon, then it would cause a definite rift in the Autobots that might cause them to interfere. I was still surprised that they were all even here. I remember being on the bridge when they called about their arrival.

Flashback.

 _My brow furrowed in concentration as I stared at the battle scene in front of me. I didn't recognize the planet, or most of the Cybertronians involved, and that was making it difficult for me to make a decision based off of the information I had. Strategies needed me to have some semblance of information on the bots on our side, at least, and yet I was finding myself having to control a relatively new group of Decepticons. This battle was taking place on a planet where the tides were very unpredictable. Sometimes, the difference between high and low tide were minutes and other times they were days. I had to be careful as to who I put where or I could lose a good number of my troops due to the tides alone._

" _Lizzie, what would you have done here?" Megatron questioned me as I studied the paused display._

 _After taking another few seconds to analyze my situation, I figured out what I wanted done. "Have the scouts and warriors work together on the front lines to hold back the Autobots. We need to get off of this planet. The trivial amount of energon here would not warrant the sacrifice of the troops here. The scouts can move around the battlefield quickly when the tide is low and, as the tides rise, the warriors can use their larger size and keep the scouts from being torn apart by the tides. Once the others are at the ships and have them in the air, they can open ground bridges to the warriors and scouts to escape into before the Autobots have a chance to get at us, Lord Megatron."_

 _Megatron imputed my idea into the program and we started to watch the results. From the looks of how the scenario was playing out, it seemed like Megatron's training was paying off a lot. When I first started my lessons, I would have wanted to charge at the Autobots with everything I had. But, I would have lot a good number of my forces by trying to do that._

 _Once the ships made their way off the planet, Megatron paused the video. "That was very well implemented Lizzie. However," what did I miss? "You need to be more cautious about how the enemy will react to your plans. While you were able to save many of our troops with your plan, the Autobots started to push against the warriors and scouts with greater force and that caused more casualties on our warriors and scouts."_

 _He was right. I was so relieved that the rest of my troops had been able to retreat that I had forgotten to cover for the warriors and scouts, who were holding the lines of attacking Autobots. How could I be so careless? "What would be your suggestion in covering their position Lord Megatron?" I asked my tutor for his advice._

 _His red optics glanced down at me before he reset the program and typed in a couple more commands before saying, "What would have been most efficient, given your battle plan, would have been to have the ships that the other troops fell back to start to give cover fire for the warriors while they held the front lines. This would have kept the Autobots pinned down and then we could have retreated with even less casualties." He then paused. "However, your strategy would have been acceptable. It caused minimal damage on its own and would have been recommended for implementation."_

 _I stared up at Megatron in surprise as he said that. Before now, he hadn't actually said that my strategies would have been allowed to be implemented as an actual battle plan. This was a big step forward and it made me both excited and worried. The excitement part was obvious because this meant that I was improving on my strategist trait. Yes, that was exactly what I needed._

 _But, I was worried for the exact same reason. My skills were improving and, that meant that it would only be a matter of time before Lord Megatron decided it was time to test my usefulness on the ship and with the Decepticons. My days were becoming numbered and I could feel the noose slowly gripping my neck._

 _Before Megatron could start the clip to show what actually happened at the battle, Thundercracker walked into the room. "My apologies Lord Megatron for disturbing your lessons with Lizzie."_

" _What is it Thundercracker?" Lord Megatron questioned the seeker._

 _Thundercracker responded quickly. "We have received a communication from a Decepticon here on Earth. He won't open the vocal link until you are present." Wait…who was this? Knockout and Breakdown were already here and they were the ones who were supposed to show up here. Now what was going on?_

 _I didn't have much time to think about it as I saw Megatron's servo set down next to me and I knew, from past experience, that I needed to get on his servo quickly. So, I didn't waste any time in doing just that. If I waited too long, like five seconds, then Megatron would just use two of his digits to pick me up. That was very uncomfortable and, again, I was speaking from experience. Not good to keep him waiting._

 _Once I was on his servo, Lord Megatron followed Thundercracker to the bridge and, one we were there, I saw that almost everybot else was here except for Knockout and Breakdown. But, since there had been an accident at mine TG-2840, that was understandable. "Open the frequency with this contact." Lord Megatron ordered as he placed me down on a console next to Soundwave and the Twins._

 _Starscream nodded. "Yes, Lord Megatron." He then typed in the necessary commands before I heard a static-filled communication filled the air._

 _I thought that it was a misdial until Lord Megatron spoke. "This is Megatron. Who is this?"_

 _A flinch traveled through me as the static suddenly vanished before a clear voice, and recognizable voice, came through the speakers in the room. "My Lord, I apologize for the lateness of our arrival." Shockwave's voice echoed in the room._

 _Glancing at Lord Megatron, I saw that he looked excited at this development. "Shockwave, where are you located so I can send the groundbridge for your team's retrieval?"_

 _To my surprise, Shockwave didn't respond how I thought he would. "Again, my apologies my Lord. However, we were attacked on our approach to this planet by an Autobot ship. While our cloaking shield was able to stay active, our ship was crashed. We have destroyed our ship to cover our tracks but one of my team mates went off on his own. I am currently tracking him so sending a groundbridge for me at this time would be detrimental to my current search. However, the two other Decepticons who travelled with us went to investigate an energon signal."_

" _Who are they and what coordinates should the retrieval team be sent to?" Lord Megatron questioned the mech on the other side of the line._

 _Shockwave was quick to answer. "They are Hook and Astrotrain. Their intended coordinates are being filtered to you my Lord."_

 _While the Decepticons in the room started moving to put together a retrieval team, I found myself standing in a shocked stupor. Shockwave, Astrotrain, and Hook. All three of them were here as well as another bot who I had no clue who it could be. This was getting crazy and the feeling of World War Earth coming to the horizon was building. So many bots already here and I doubted that we were seeing the end of it._

End of Flashback.

Out of the three bots I had personally interacted with that were new, I found that the only one that caused me to worry was Astrotrain. As soon as Lord Megatron had finished speaking to them that night, he had seen me and wondered why I was still in one piece. Yeah, not the best first impression. When Lord Megatron had explained my situation to him, he had seemed to grow even more annoyed at my presence. I was definitely trying to avoid that mech.

Shockwave seemed curious at my being here…well as much as he could look curious to me, but he didn't say much about it. I didn't think that he would cause me issues but I would have to keep my guard up for now. Just in case. But, if he was as logical as he was in the show when I saw him, then I was sure I wouldn't have to worry about him until Lord Megatron said that I was no longer a use. After that, my fate was up in the air.

However, the surprise in that group of three had been Hook. While I didn't get to talk with him much the first night, since he was helping the fourth bot, I did get to meet him the next morning when I had gone to Knockout's med bay but, instead of finding the red race car mech, I had found the green crane mech. He had been cataloging different drugs and equipment for his own files when I had come in through the grate. At first, the Constructicon medic had just stood there…staring at me like it was completely unexpected of me to be around the med bay.

…Okay, maybe it was slightly unexpected to be around the med bay for a bot who just got on the ship. But, after he stared at me, Hook did come and help me down onto the counter. We had then started talking about random scrap for about two hours before Knockout and Breakdown had come in. They had stared at the two of us for a bit before Soundwave followed in behind them with the twins. They then took me away but it was fun to talk to the Constructicon. Honestly, he acted a lot like Ratchet but he seemed to be more open to new things.

Back to the current situation however, "So where are the others at?" There were still five bots that were unaccounted for in my mind and I was hoping that Joe would give me a clue as to where they were. "Lord Megatron is with Soundwave and Vox on the bridge. They are looking over our energon reserves and our intel on Autobot locations."

"And the twins?" I pressed. I hadn't forgotten that they were going to be paying me back for the prank that Skywarp and I pulled off on them and I felt like I was on my toes waiting for that to happen

Joe smirked at my question. "Worried?" Obviously. I sent him a look saying that. He laughed before continuing. "Well, don't worry too much. They had some errands to run on Earth, a place called Hollywood I think. From what I know, they won't be back until late tonight if not tomorrow." So, they must be using their soliforms. It was nice to know that the Decepticons had them, though they weren't used much. Rumble and Frenzy had told me that theirs were called Ryan Wright and Finian Wright respectively. They even told me that Soundwave called his Saul Wright…but only because I might need to know it if something happened and we had to meet in soliform.

Before I could say anything else to Joe, the doors to the med bay opened and Knockout walked in, looking exhausted. "Well, good news is the patient should be ready for social interaction here in a few solars."

So…what was the bad news? "And the bad news?" I questioned the medic.

He looked down at me and sighed. "There was this race I was planning to go to earlier that I missed because I was working on the patient." Yeah, none of us were allowed to talk about the bot being worked on much until it was time for the bot to be with general population.

Hang on…a race? That he _missed_? That meant that, more than likely, we were in Speed Metal and that we had already had some issues with the timeline. Knockout had missed the race that the idiot scratched his paintjob. Well, since it was already out of whack…maybe I could have some more fun changing things.

"Really missing a race was bad news?" Joe asked Knockout with a laugh.

Knockout frowned at his secondary assistant. "Yes it is. I had to pay a non-refundable pre-entry fee for this one. Blew sixty bucks for nothing. If I keep losing money like this, Soundwave's going to stop hacking into offshore accounts to get it for me."

Well…at least they was going after hidden money.

"Any races coming up soon?" I asked him since there was a nice pause in the conversation.

Both Joe and Knockout looked at me before Knockout nodded. "Yeah, I got one tonight. Thankfully, it's a pay on spot race since it's so out of the way. That Jasper town isn't far from it so the local humans take charge of running it." He then paused and looked down at me before looking back at Joe. "I'll be right back." He then walked out of the room.

…What was going on? I was going to ask Knockout if I could go with him but now he was acting strange. Like…really strange. What was going through his processor? "Do you know what that was about?" Joe finally asked me.

Shaking my head, I motioned to the door that Knockout walked out of. "No idea Joe. But, I bet we'll find out here in a bit." Since we were going to have to wait for Knockout to get back, though, I decided to ask him something. "Joe, do you like to study human culture?"

The Eradicon looked at me with a surprised look before he smiled and nodded. "Yeah we do. More now that you are here but a good number of us used to study up on the culture before you popped in on us. You humans aren't so different from us but you have so many cultural habits that are, honestly a lot of fun."

Really? "What did you study up on?" I asked my friend.

He laughed at that. "You might think it is funny, but I liked to study up on ancient Earth mythology. It's fascinating just how imaginative humans could be in your past to create such fantastical beings like your gods."

I nodded in response. "Yeah, it is very amazing. And just think about how many works of wonder where made to appease these fictitious beings. It is astounding." Actually, mythology was one of my favorite topics to delve into. I even made a couple OCs in my past based off of some of the gods of ancient Earth. They never appeared in any of the stories that I posted, but they were planned to make appearances eventually.

Before Joe could respond to that, Knockout walked back in with a grin on his faceplate that made me want to hide in the smallest corner of Soundwave's room for the rest of my life…however long that may be. "Sorry for running off like that. But Lizzie, how would you like to come with me to that race I told you about tonight? I've already received Lord Megatron's approval and it will be a chance for you to get out and enjoy some fresh air."

Well scrap.

This was what I wanted but, with Lord Megatron's approval, I had a feeling that this was going to be some sort of test for me. It would be my first time away from the ship in a human occupied area. The mine didn't count since I was surrounded by the Decepticons and South America didn't count because there had been no humans around to interact with. Now, I would not only be around humans, like Lord Megatron was probably counting on, but I knew that there would be Autobot presence there as well. This would be a major test for me and I could not fail it. If I made it look like I was trying to be rescued than I would probably be killed on the spot, a bloody mark on the pavement.

But, to refuse would look just as bad so I smiled and nodded. "That sounds great! But, you're sure that Lord Megatron knows?"

"Talked to our leader himself." Knockout reassured me. "He wanted me to let you know that he feels you have earned this trip to the surface." Yeah, I know. He really was hoping for me to be tested fiercely.

I hoped my final test would come soon. The wait for the test itself would kill me.

When Knockout walked up to me, and held out of his servo, I realized that it must be getting close to time for this race. Well, better now than never. As Knockout walked out of the med bay, I found myself worrying. This was a very different test than any I had taken before. How would I be able to pass it?

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V**

"Paul, you are completely and utterly insane." Cliffjumper continued to yell at me from where he stood…which was right above where I was standing in the human area. "Jack and Arcee racing earlier was stupid, Bumblebee and Jack going off to this race is a bad enough idea as it is, but now you want me to go with them with you?"

Yeah…I was trying to convince Cliffjumper to go to the race. Normally, I wouldn't be so ready to break the rules like this. But, with Knockout being confirmed on Earth…thanks to Lizzie's intel, then I was wanting to go to the race to see how it would develop and how the differences would affect the story. Oh, I had no doubt that something about this episode was going to change. While it was stupid, I had been holding out on my hope of a stable timeline until Deus Ex Machina happened. Then, that was when everything went to the Pit, and then some. The worse part, besides Lizzie not giving me a full list of Decepticons…again, was that I had to deal with Shockwave already.

So, I wanted to get to the race to make sure that the Decepticons didn't get any more humans besides my employee. The Autobots did not need the added stress of losing another human to the Decepticons. It would not end very well for anyone around.

"Yes Cliffjumper, I do." I told my guardian bluntly. "This is a chance to see what breaking the rules is like without getting into that much trouble. Plus, we know that the Decepticons have at least one ground mode bot who could be a racer and, if he shows up, then it would probably be better if we were there as a form of backup just in case the race turns into a battle field."

Cliffjumper frowned at me and I could tell by the look on his face that he was trying to find a counter-argument against what I wanted to do. However, I knew that he wasn't going to be able to find one. Lady luck owed me that much after all the fragging changes that had happened. She could at least let me go to the race.

Thankfully, she was on my side. "Fine, but we are not going to be near the lead. Let Bumblebee and Jack had that. We are only going to be in reserve just in case Decepticons show up." Well, better than nothing. Being behind a bit shouldn't matter. The race had been staggered at first but, if Jack and Vince pull off like they usually did, then Cliffjumper and I should catch up by the time that whichever Decepticon was here made their move.

Once Cliff transformed, I hopped in and we raced out of the base. We were only a few minutes behind Jack and Bumblebee so I knew that we were going to be able to catch them. But, as Cliff drove down the road, I found myself trying to think of who was going to show up. The Decepticons, giving Lizzie's list, really only had two bots who would be at this race; Knockout and Vox. But, I wasn't sure which one out of the two would be here…unless both showed up. I could tell that Vox had speed on him and that would be a good thing for this episode but Knockout had experience, in my processor, plus, he had the good thing going for him that none of the Autobots actually knew that he was here. If he showed up, then I would not be able to warn Cliffjumper that there as a Decepticon in the race. This was not going to go well if Knockout showed up.

I now found myself hoping that Vox as the one that showed up and not Knockout. It would let me take control of the situation.

It seemed like no time had passed before Cliffjumper and I were pulling up to the race. When I saw a man standing and collecting money from racers, I realized that I was going to need to offer payment for both myself and Jack. Thankfully, I had it covered. Once Cliffjumper stopped, I hopped out of him before walking up to the money taker, along with Jack, before handing the taker the hundred dollars that would cover both of us. "This is for him as well."

Jack jumped in surprise at my appearance. "Paul? What are you doing here?"

I motioned back to Cliffjumper before I answered him. "Well, Cliff and I decided to come as backup in case something happens here. Always nice to have backup."

From the look on Jack's face, I could see that he understood what I meant. While I was sure that the taker didn't understand what I was actually meaning, he seemed to draw his own conclusion. "Not the worse idea to have at these races. I recognize a few of these cars from the bigger races where the racing is a lot more dangerous." He then motioned to his right before saying, "Like that red car, though this is the first time I've seen them pay up front and not ahead of time."

My breath hitched slightly at his description of the car to look out for, and I turned just to mentally facepalm. Great. The red sports car with tribal designs could only be Knockout. And, from what the money man had just said, Knockout was using a soliform as well. That would make everything even more difficult.

But I couldn't waste any more time, so I turned to Jack. "Be careful and I hope this is worth it." I told him before I walked to Cliffjumper. Once I was behind the wheel, Cliffjumper spoke to me. "What took so long Paul?"

Cliffjumper started his engine and started to move to join the group of cars already at the start before I answered. "Helped Jack pay his entry for the race. Plus, wanted to get a rundown of the other drivers. I think the red sports car might be some trouble." I motioned to Knockout's alt mode. While I couldn't say that the red sports car was Knockout, a Decepticon, I could at least get Cliffjumper to keep an optic on the bot.

Once we were lined up, I noticed that Bumblebee and Knockout were at the front of the line while Cliff and I were stuck down in the third row of cars. This was not going to be good at all. If we didn't get around these lines around us, then we were going to lose Bumblebee and Knockout quickly. What was even worse, I saw Vince was behind my own car. He was not going to be able to get up to Jack and stop him. Just what was going to happen?

I flinched as Cliffjumper hit the gas when the flag came down to start. Almost immediately, we were slightly boxed in and I could only watch as Bumblebee and Knockout disappeared from sight.

…Well slag.

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

Adrenaline was pumping through my veins as Knockout sped fender to fender with Bumblebee around turns at breakneck speeds. This was crazy fast and I found myself appreciating Knockout's speed even more. He was a medic, and they weren't normally known to go fast. Other positions on the field…yes, they could. But, Knockout was an experienced medic and could race like this. My respect for the red medic was now through the roof.

But, we had a problem. About two minutes ago, Bumblebee's driving style around us had changed and I had a feeling that meant that he suspected that it was really a Decepticon next to me, in spite of Knockout not being seen by the Autobots as of yet. This wasn't good but, as a strategist in training, I had to figure out what to do in this situation that would cause the least amount of casualties to our side while throwing the Autobots off their game as much as possible. Plus, I had seen Paul through Knockout's rearview so, whatever I was going to do, I had to make sure that I did it quick enough so Paul wouldn't see me. If he saw me, then he might destroy everything that I was working toward with the Decepticons. I had to do this right, or I would be in serious trouble.

And I wasn't so much worried about Paul then I was Megatron.

I flinched as Knockout suddenly lurched to the side and I saw that Bumblebee had sideswiped him. Guess he was pretty positive that Knockout was a Decepticon. This wasn't good. This wasn't…that was it!

"What do I do Lizzie?" Knockout asked me with a growl in his voice.

"Cut him off now but don't transform!" I yelled at the red medic. Thankfully, Knockout did what I said and cut off the yellow bug. By this point, I realized that we were off the racetrack, so we should be good until Cliffjumper and Paul came around. But, that could be soon, so I didn't have any time to waste. "Stay here." I told him as I opened his door.

"Where are you going?" He whispered to me in a panic as I swung one leg out.

Shaking my head, I had to reassure him so he wouldn't tell Megatron that I was running. I was definitely not running. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not running. I'm just going to confuse the scrap out of whoever that is and give them a lesson in return." I then got out and shut the door behind me.

And I marched right up to Jack, who was getting out of Bumblebee. "Who are," Jack started to ask me in confusion.

But, I didn't give him time to finish that question as I pulled back a clenched fist and drilled him in the eye. He stumbled back but I didn't give him time to recover as I grabbed him by the collar and threw him against Bumblebee's alt mode. "Who the hell do you think you are? I'm pretty sure that the MC said that he wanted a nice _clean_ race! Yet here you are, punk-ass kid, trying to run me off the road! Do you know how much time is put into getting that car into peak perfection for a race!?" I was furious and wanted to make sure that they knew that. "You _ever_ try a stunt like that again, and I won't just hit you a couple of times."

Jack looked confused. "What do you mean a couple,"

 **Wham!**

My fist landed in the same spot that it had previously and knocked Jack against Bumblebee's alt mode. I could see that I scraped his cheek and I knew that his eye was going to be swollen after this. Of course, my hand was a little painful but I was sure that Knockout could look at it. I got out of this with minimal casualties and it was going to confuse the enemy. I think that was a win in our situation.

Once I got back to Knockout, I opened his driver's door and got in before he started his engine and, to my delight, he squealed out of there like a bat out of hell. Once he was some good ways away, I fell back against his seat and started to laugh. I shouldn't feel so excited that I had just punched Jack in the face, I really shouldn't, but it felt so good. For a lot of the show, he was an idiot…at least in my opinion, and being able to punch him now, and having a reason for it, felt amazing.

"That was…unexpected." Knockout finally spoke after I had calmed down. He then continued. "But, I think that Lord Megatron will be pleased. We did not attract any necessary attention, you were able to assess the information and, while your choice of action was…unusual, I believe that Lord Megatron would approve. You avoided giving your identity to the Autobots…for that was who they were.

"Really?" I asked in fake confusion. Of course, I really knew that they were with the Autobots but I had to make it sound like I didn't.

"Yep." Knockout responded in return. "Added onto all of that you didn't try to escape, and now the Autobots are going to be confused as to what is around them. I have a feeling that Bumblebee, the Autobot that ruined my paintjob, is going to get in trouble for endangering an innocent human. You did good."

Yeah, I just hoped Lord Megatron would have the same praise. My day of testing would be coming soon…that much I knew, and when that day came I had to be ready for anything. Who knew what sort of test I was going to be given. Hopefully, I would pass it. If I didn't, well, I could at least say that I enjoyed life to the end.

…Hopefully, that wouldn't happen.

 **Shockwave's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

This room was…confusing. I was currently inside what would eventually be my laboratory here on the ship. While larger experiments would have to be performed at my off-ship lab, this room would serve for my smaller experiments, or for the less time-consuming projects that I was sometimes asked to do by Lord Megatron. His current project for me was to find a way to allow our soliforms to better interact. It seemed logical if our Lord was his final battlefield here on Earth. We would need to garner local support so we could have a step up against the Autobots.

We knew that the Autobots had connections with the local governing body of humans. However, I believed I knew what Lord Megatron was planning once this program was perfected. He understood that the voice of power, especially in this country, was in the fleshy servos of the citizens. Lord Megatron understands that these people are stronger than their government.

But, until I could accomplish that goal, I had to get this lab in running order. This didn't even look like a lab. It looked like a storage closet with some monitors placed inside. It would take me some time to actually get work completed since I had to construct the lab first. The only good thing about this situation was that I could construct the lab in a way that I would be able to utilize to optimum capacity.

The doors opening to the lab caused me to turn around and I bowed my helm toward Lord Megatron as he entered. "Shockwave, I apologize for the lack of current equipment in this room. Your arrival was unexpected. More technology will be available soon."

"I can work well here. No apologies needed my Lord." I answered my Lord. In the grand scheme of our plans, there was no extra need for my personal comfort to be cared for. "Is there something I can do for you Lord Megatron?" He had been busy with the human for the past few solars and I was surprised that he was here with me at the present time. I had nothing to present to him right now and that was not acceptable for me.

"Ms. Val is currently taking a test with Knockout planetside." Lord Megatron stated before he continued. "Speaking of the human, I believe that she has the ability to earn her place among our ranks. However, there is more you can teach to her before her test than I currently have at my disposal. I am requesting you to have at least two instructions with Ms. Val and give her the final tools that she will need for her test."

While helping the human in our current possession seemed like a waste of my time, Lord Megatron did know bets and it would be wise of me to follow his instructions. "As you command Lord Megatron."

"Also Shockwave," I kept my attention on my Lord as he continued to speak. "I need to you start work on a project that will help in our interactions with the human population…should the need ever arise." He then walked up to the currently only working monitor and, as I walked next to him, I awaited his order.

* * *

 **Lizzie: That...*squeals* was amazing! I got to punch Jack and I'm not going to get in trouble for it!**

 **Authoress: Yes, that seems quite nice. I'm glad I could do that for you Lizzie.**

 **Lizzie: But, I'm worried as well.**

 **Authoress: *confused* Why?**

 **Knockout: *walks in* Because she is getting ever closer to her final test. If she doesn't pass that, then she is going to cease to exist.**

 **Lizzie: *looks up at Knockout* I thought you were on my side?**

 **Knockout: *nods* I am. But, if you fail I'm not going against Lord Megatron. He scares me more than you scare me.**

 **Lizzie: *defeated* That's true. *cries***

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 **AN2: And here is the next chapter to this story! I hoped you all liked it as much as I did writing it! I know it is a filler, but there are some key points mentioned in it that will help drive the chapters to come. Yes, Lizzie is excited about punching Jack. Out of all the humans in this series, Jack has to be my least favorite one. So, you will see him taking a back seat role in many of my stories and/or getting the worse of a situation...like you saw here. I'm sorry if you like Jack but that is how the cookie crumbles in this dimension of mine. He will be teased about his eye by the others at base...because it will not look pretty in the morning. XD**

 **Now, there wasn't much more with this chapter (and if you think there was then comment in a review...I like those things). Next chapter is going to have a lot to do with the Autobots (lots of fun there *dark laugh*). However, there will be a scene or two with Lizzie that will be important so pay attention to those bits. Of course, Paul is going to have more to worry about than Lizzie next chapter.**

 **Well, I guess I will have to give you the titles of the next couple of chapters now. XD**

 **Chapter 12: Special Training**

 **Chapter 13: Strategist**

 **Chapter 14:...? (find out next time!)**

 **Now that we have that out of the way, I hope you all wouldn't mind dropping in a review, even if it is to say hello! I like seeing them! They are so much fun! Flames, however, will be used to my own purposes and at my own leisure. Well, that's all for now! Until next time, TTYL! *playing whack-a-fly in my room***


	13. Special Training

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend!**

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 **Authoress: Wow...I have no excuse.**

 **Lizzie: Obviously. It has been MONTHS since you have updated. I have barely been on this ship a month and look at all the scrap you are making me go through!**

 **Authoress: *smirks* Touchy subject?**

 **Lizzie: *fumes* I should kill you.**

 **Authoress: *shakes head* You should watch that temper of yours Lizzie.**

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 **AN: And here are responses to reviews from the previous chapter that I could not answer through PM!**

 **azura mythralis: Well, not sure about the next few...but here is the next chapter for your viewing pleasure! I'm glad you like both this story and the original. I have enjoyed writing both so much! I hope you continue to enjoy as I take this crazy journey even further and further away from sanity!**

 **Hz: Well, I can't give you the rest of the story at this very moment, but I hope this is a good filler for now. The rest will come in time.**

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Chapter 12: Special Training

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"Paul, where did you get this sheet music?" Miko asked me as she looked at the sheet music in front of her.

Yesterday, Miko had asked me to get out my guitar for today so I could help her practice some of her techniques…and so that we could just play and relax a little. Bumblebee, Arcee, and Jack were in trouble for racing a few days ago. Yeah, Optimus had found out that, not only had Bumblebee and Jack gone racing last night, but that Arcee and Jack had raced Vince in town. Of course, Bumblebee was double slammed with trouble for slamming against the red racecar…that even I had been sure was a Decepticon; Knockout.

"A friend owed me." I vaguely answered Miko's question before returning to my thoughts.

Cliffjumper and I had been able to escape Optimus' punishment for going to the race, since I had said that we had gone to keep an eye on Jack and Bumblebee and we had avoided anything dangerous. We had just received a light lecture. Arcee had to have somebot go with her for a few weeks when she went out of the base, and while she wasn't happy about that, it wasn't nearly as bad as what Jack and Bumblebee got.

Bumblebee, for endangering the driver that Knockout must have made as a soliform…a very sophisticated soliform, wasn't allowed out of base, except for an emergency, for another two weeks and, after that, he had to be watched by another bot for another three weeks. Yeah, Bumblebee was really taking a hit for that incident.

But, that was getting me wondering as well. That soliform had talked, according to both Jack and Bumblebee, with a very clear woman's voice. While it was possible to make the soliforms talk with another voice, using the opposite gender did not usually come out sounding very clear and real. I had not thought that Knockout would even use a female soliform, none-the-less that it would be as clear as they had described it.

Of course, Jack got hit pretty hard due to his attendance to the race…both literally and figuratively. I was surprised that the soliform of Knockout's had confronted Jack and had punched the kid twice. If it was Knockout, like I was sure he was, he would have known that Bumblebee had been in control when he was sideswiped but, instead of confronting Bumblebee, he had gone after Jack. Hit the poor kid twice as well.

And, to make matters worse for the kid, his mom found out that Jack had borrowed a friend's car and entered the race. Not only was Jack having to make sure that both Raf and Miko were with him if he wasn't at work or at home, but he wasn't even allowed away from home with them for more than four hours. It definitely cut down the amount of time that Jack was allowed at base. So, he wouldn't get in trouble, the bots had to take turns taking Jack home. Hopefully, this grounding wouldn't last long…for the bots' sake.

"That's some pretty well-connected friend." Miko commented as she strummed some of the notes on her guitar. "How did you get in contact with him anyways?"

I let out a laugh and played with her while answering. "I am a CEO of a technology company. That isn't just military tech. I also have my company work with other technologies including music."

Before the two of us could go through the song fully again, since we had already gone through it a few times, Arcee walked in and glanced at the few bots in the room. Those were Blaster, Eject, Flamewar, Ironhide, and Springer. She finally stopped by Blaster before saying, "Hey Blaster, can you and Eject come on patrol with me? I want to check out this wooded area in the north."

Wait…wooded area…and Arcee? That probably meant that this was the episode where Airachnid came in and, since Jack was not here, that meant that I had probably go to make sure that things turned out alright. Since I still didn't have Lizzie here with me, I knew I needed to somewhat train Miko for going into the field with me and this, while dangerous, might be the best opportunity for a while to come up.

"Hey Arcee," She, Blaster, and Eject, who had just agreed to go with Arcee, all turned to me before I motioned to Miko and myself. "can we come with you? It would be interesting to explore and it would be beneficial for Miko's education." It would…somewhat.

She looked hesitant at my request but, with a glance to Blaster and Eject, she seemed to be more willing. "Well, I guess it would be alright. Eject can help watch you guys. Just know that if anything starts to go wrong,"

"We hightail it out of there." Miko finished for her with a smile, having already placed her guitar next to mine on the table in the human area. Guess she was excited that she was going to be coming with me.

Of course, depending on what that trouble was, then we wouldn't get much chance to get back to base.

I shook that thought out of my mind as Arcee and Blaster led the way through the open ground bridge as Eject, Miko, and I walked on the ground. Once we were through the other side, I had no doubt in my mind that this was the dreaded Airachnid episode. Dark gloomy forest, lack of much life, Arcee being here…yeah, this was probably it. I had to be on an even higher guard now. Miko and I could be placed in serious danger along with Arcee, Blaster, and Eject. With Jack _not_ being here, then I had no clue as to how this was going to turn out and I had to be ready.

"That's odd." Blaster suddenly said as we made our way down a slope. "Ratchet's satellite scans were accurate, but subterranean energon deposits don't cause this kind of surge."

"What could be causing them?" Miko asked as we tried to keep up with Blaster and Arcee. They were moving quickly, and I almost had to run to keep up with them.

But, we didn't get an answer as we came to a crash site that was all too familiar to me. This was Airachnid's ship and that meant that there was a lot of craziness about to go down.

"Whoa, wonder what happened here?" I muttered out loud as I glanced at the damage done. This didn't seem like a simple malfunction. Had something actually shot Airachnid's ship down? With how the timestream was moving, that wouldn't surprise me too much. When there wasn't any response to my question, I turned and was surprised to see that only Eject and Blaster were here, and they were looking toward the entrance of the ship with worry. Guess Arcee was investigating inside the ship.

I flinched as I heard the sound of something breaking. But, when I turned toward the direction of the sound, there was nothing there. Must have been a forest creature who was curious about the ship that crashed. This situation was putting me on edge and I knew that it was only going to get worse. "Dude, why did Arcee go off by herself?" Miko asked as she came and stood next to me.

All I could do was shake my head. "I have no idea Miko." And I really didn't. While she was my creation, I did not know why she would go into the ship by herself this time. Last time yes, she had been the only bot and she had Jack to think of. Couldn't be taking him into a dangerous situation.

We all flinched as Arcee raced out of the ship and she looked panicked. Once she stopped by us, Blaster didn't waste any time in running up to her. "Arcee what's wrong?"

She shook her helm and motioned to us. "We need to get them back to base now." She then held her servo up to her comm link. "Base this is Arcee, I need a ground bridge asap." She then paused. "Base, can you hear me?" She then waited a few more seconds before saying, "Frag it comm link is dead."

Blaster, who had a servo next to his comm, nodded, "Yeah, mine's dead too."

I braced myself for Arcee to suddenly grab us and drive us away, like she did before. But, to my surprise, she shook her helm. "Then you three stay here." Guess Eject was being included in…did she just say stay here? "The area is clear and the ship will give you extra cover. Blaster, you're with me. I'll explain what's going on once we get moving."

Before Blaster could refute this, Arcee transformed before racing out. Blaster let out a sigh of what sounded like annoyance before saying, "Eject, keep your link to me open. I'll let you know if you all need to move…or when we will be on the way back." He then transformed before racing after Arcee.

Great…this was just great. We just got ditched by both big bots in all of this and we were ditched at Airachnid's ship. This was not going to end well. Hopefully we could all get out of this alive. Airachnid was not a fun femme to deal with and she would not hesitate to kill us for fun.

The three of us stood there for twenty minutes without word from anybot. It was honestly boring but it did give me hope. With the amount of time that had gone by, the odds were in our favor that Airachnid was fighting Blaster and Arcee and that meant that we wouldn't have to interact with her. But, time worked differently when you were looking back on an event. Did it really take this long for them to fight Airachnid?

I heard another snap of a twig but, unlike earlier, I didn't look back at it. It was probably just another forest animal wondering about the ship and if they can make it their new home. It was strange, how creatures on Earth could make a new home out of something so bizarre as a crashed ship. Of course, I wasn't sure that many of the creatures would feel comfortable in a ship that was full of decapitated heads.

"Paul," Eject started and I turned to him. "is there usually this lack of animal activity in the woods?"

Shaking my head, I motioned around. "Not really, but the animals were probably spooked by the ship crashing in their home area."

In return, Eject nodded but still looked confused. "I get that Paul…but it has been a while since the ship crashed…and even since we have been here. Wouldn't at least some of the wildlife have come back to look around?"

I froze at his words. He was right. The ship had to crash before we even got to the forest. With all the time that had passed since we had been here in the woods, and even the twenty minutes since Arcee and Blaster had left, there should have been some animal activity around us. But, the area seemed to be desolate of any animal life. Normally, animals used their instincts and stayed away from an area that they sensed could cause them trouble…like if there was a hunter that was higher in the food chain than they were. With a gulp, I nodded. "There wouldn't be many reasons for animals to stay away from here…and none of them are good."

At that, Miko, seemed to get what I was saying and she slowly looked behind us and up. When her eyes widened, I had a feeling that we were going to be, "Spider!"

Eject and I both looked back when she yelled that and, as soon as I did, I found myself turning around and running. This was exactly what I was afraid was going to happen. Hopefully, things were going better for Lizzie on the Nemesis than they were for me right now…as I ran for my life!

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"Lizzie, what are you doing?"

I glanced up at Joe and Hook as they stood above me with confused looks on their faceplates. Joe, who had asked that, had his arms crossed against his chest. He looked nervous and honestly, I couldn't blame him. Even though he didn't bring it up anymore, I knew he was still nervous about what I think about ever since I offered him up to Knockout.

Before he had interrupted me, I had been laying on an empty tool tray here in med bay trying to think about the final study session I had with Shockwave last night. It had been three days since the night of the race and I had studied with Shockwave for three hours for each of those three days. He had taken over my strategy lessons from Lord Megatron and he did not fail to live up to his reputation. His teaching followed a rigorous and logical path and I had learned a lot from him in a short amount of time.

I had been surprised when, last night after the lesson, Shockwave said that I would have today and tomorrow off from my lessons. That was what I was thinking about before Joe had spoken. Giving a day off after only three days did not seem like something that Shockwave would normally do. He seemed like the type of bot who would give lessons throughout the week and only give a day break after weeks of training. Having a break after three days was suspicious and I had a feeling that this was a sign for me.

It was a sign that my final test was going to come a lot sooner than I had expected it to. Even with the surprise arrival of Shockwave, I thought I would have at least another month before I would have to complete my final test. But, with this abnormal break that I had received from Shockwave, I had a feeling that I could be given my final test at any moment.

Smirking, I looked at Joe. "Worried?" He shot an unamused look my way and I realized I had better not make him worried. He was helping me hide from the twins right now and I wanted to stay hidden. "I was just thinking about my lessons with Shockwave. Nothing terribly serious." Except for the unknown fact of my future existence in the living world. But, that wasn't something I wanted to discuss in depth with Joe and Hook.

Joe seemed relieved at my answer and sighed. "Well, that's good I guess. I know better than to ask you about your lessons," Yeah, because I would talk in detail about what happened and end up boring him. "so I guess I should ask if you heard about what the twins did to Skywarp?"

I shivered at that. Yeah, I heard what they had done to Skywarp and that was why I was hiding in here. Of course, Joe and Hook just thought that they were keeping me company since I didn't have a class. But, I was really hiding from the twins. Skywarp had woke up this morning to a multifaceted prank that started with him waking up next to his own offline chassis. He had screamed so much that he woke up Starscream and Thundercracker before he warped to Knockout's room and woke up the medic and Breakdown.

The twins must have somehow known that he would end up in the doctor's room because they had used spare energon and painted it on Knockout's and Breakdown's faceplates while adding fake scar marks on their faceplates and chassis. That caused Skywarp to freak out even more and he had ended up teleporting into Soundwave's room…which was also my room with the twins. That was a mistake on his part because his screaming woke up Soundwave and me…though Soundwave was the important one. He had immediately grabbed Skywarp with his tentacles before throwing him into his washrack.

The twins had to get Soundwave to agree to help with the prank because as soon as the door was closed, the wash rack had activated. Rumble and Frenzy had evolved my paint prank idea and Skywarp had been assaulted from three sides by three different colored paints…

…A sky blue, lime green, and hot pink Skywarp was a nightmare to see. Plus, the paint didn't come off right away in water. Skywarp had to use gasoline to wash the paint off and his plating still had a light tinge of the three colors, though thankfully his main colors of black and purple were the most prevalent.

"Yeah, I heard…and I was still in the room when Skywarp burst in and woke up Soundwave." I answered him with a nod. I then glanced out of the med bay door, which was opened, and I was surprised to see a large group of drones…about twenty of them, walking past med bay. What was even more interesting was that I could see that they had weather-proofing on. Their armor sheened just enough and I had seen Knockout put some on Skyquake when the flier had to go to Alaska to check on a mine that the Decepticons had started there recently.

Joe and Hook flinched at my answer and Hook, probably noticing that I had been distracted by the crowd of drones outside, motioned to Joe and me. "Joe, I think I can hold down med bay for a while. Why don't you take Lizzie and see where that lot was going? It's always interesting to see what large groups of bots are doing."

Joe must have gotten the hint that I was bored and this would help keep me occupied with something. Well, it was getting kind of boring laying on a medical tray in med bay. "That sounds like fun." I smiled at that. Frenzy and Rumble probably wouldn't try anything on me with a large group of drones around and this would be a chance to maybe study the drones. I had been trying to interact with the drones more but, due to my lessons, I only got to spend quality time with Joe and Carl and I knew enough about them for now. I wanted to get to know more of the drones.

"Sounds like fun. Just make sure you let Knockout know where I have gone. Last time I went out, he panicked and I got the riot act when I got back." Yeah, he was asked by the newest bot…who I still wasn't allowed to think too much about, to run an errand that caused Joe to be gone longer than he thought. Knockout was not a happy camper that Joe was gone for that.

Hook nodded and motioned to the door. "Fine, I'll cover you. Just hurry and get Lizzie out of here. She can be slightly depressing when she has nothing to do."

…Wow. Thanks Hook. Really know how to make a girl feel nice don't you?

Joe must have thought that was funny because he let out a laugh and nodded before placing his servo next to me, allowing me to climb up, before he walked out of med bay. Instead of getting into a conversation with Joe while we walked, like I normally did. I had some major worries bouncing in my head but the most worrisome came in the form of my final test. I could feel the hot breath of the devil on my neck whenever I thought about it. With how Shockwave had acted, it was only days away. I had to be ready for whatever this challenge was going to be.

Once we were on the bridge, I glanced and I was surprised to see Soundwave standing by the bridge with a winter jacket, winter boots, and heavy winter pants. Guess Hook had called ahead and told Soundwave what our plans were, and he made sure that I would be dressed well enough for…where did those drones go?

" _Going way up north. Need to bundle up tight. It's cold outside."_ Soundwave spoke with clips while handing me the coat and pants. Once they were on, I slipped off my tennis shoes and put on the winter boots. This was going to be a strange vacation but it was going to hopefully be worth it.

But, to the unknown part of all of this. "Soundwave…where are we going exactly?"

Instead of giving me a straight answer…which would have been nice, Soundwave simply tilted his head before he turned and opened the ground bridge. This wasn't nice but, in a sense, this was training. I could tell by the winter outfit that I was going somewhere cold. I would need to be open to what sort of situations could be on the other side of the bridge once Joe and I got through. What would a bunch of drones be doing somewhere cold when there were no new mines and it wasn't time for shifts to be changed for the mines that we did have in the cold?

When Joe walked through the bridge, I was immediately glad that Soundwave gave me the winter clothes. All around me was a winter landscape, white as far as the eye could see. What the heck would drones be doing here? Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Come on Lizzie." Joe started. "Soundwave said that, even with the clothes that he had you put on, you will only have about an hour before you have to go back due to the cold." He then started to move toward the north.

That was right. Being on the relatively cold Nemesis, I forgot that it would be dangerous if I stayed somewhere this cold for too long. I had to remind myself that I was human and that I was still affected by the weather around me. Being around aliens who had a metal exterior that allowed them to stay in more troublesome temperatures longer was making me forget my own weaknesses to the climate around me.

"Joe," I started as Joe started to walk up a hill. "do you know what they are doing here?" I was hoping to be a little prepared for what I was going to see.

But, instead of answering me…which seemed to be happening quite a bit today, Joe stopped at the top of the hill and motioned downward with his other hand. "Why don't you look?"

Following his instruction, I looked and was amazed at what I saw. I knew that the drones studied human culture a lot during their free time, but I hadn't thought that they would start picking up human activities as their own. There were about fifteen of the drones 'sledding' down one of the larger hills near us with bits of scrap that they must have brought from the ship. Then, some distance away, another ten of the drones were building snowmen. Two of the drones, who I believed were Fawn and Jarred, were engaged in what seemed like a very intense snowball match. If they weren't throwing the balls at the high speeds that they were, then I would ask Joe if we could go and join them.

But, it was the three remaining drones that really caused me to widen my eyes in surprise. They were called Florian, Flare, and Frost and the three self-proclaimed 'triplets' were ice skating! And not just clumsy ice skating like I could sometimes pull off on a good day. They were skating with enough skills that I was jealous. They were skating backwards with ease and Frost was even performing jumps every so often. "Are they skating!?" I asked Joe in surprised shock.

Joe looked to where I was looking before he nodded. "Yeah. Florian, Flare, and Frost got really addicted to watching skating and they've been practicing whenever they have had time." He then paused as the three of them started to line up in a line. "Oh, it looks like they are about to race each other."

With wide eyes, I focused on the three. Racing on skates wasn't easy, in my opinion, and the fact that they could was amazing. The cold wind moving around me didn't distract me as the three bots stayed tense, waiting on some unknown signal to start. I never realized just how in depth the drones had studied human culture. That could change so many things about what I had been thinking that I knew that I had to rethink my way at approaching strategies. This could change everything.

 **Arcee's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I growled to myself as I ran toward the ever-changing coordinates that Eject was sending us. How could I have been so stupid? When I had seen the collection of heads that had been inside the ship, I knew that it had to belong to Airachnid. There was no other Decepticon that I knew of who would do something so sickening and sparkless as that. Yet, I had left everyone in our group behind as I had sped to try and find her…before she got ahold of them.

But, that was what she had wanted me to do. Blaster, being responsible, had come after me to make sure that we weren't split up. That had left Eject, Miko, and Paul defenseless against her. When Blaster had caught up to me, I told him whose ship that was and he had said that we needed to get back to the others so we could get somewhere safe enough to contact the base and get some reinforcements.

But then, Eject had contacted Blaster over their symbiot bond in a panic because Airachnid was chasing the three of them and Eject wasn't sure how long they were going to be able to keep dodging her. This was what I was trying to avoid but, since I didn't communicate with everyone around me about what was going on, then I had let it happen. If I had just told the others about the situation, we wouldn't be racing toward Eject and the others. I had already lost Tailgate…I didn't want to lose anyone else to her.

"Arcee you need to focus." Blaster snapped me out of my thoughts as we continued to run toward the others. "You need to trust that Eject and the others are going to be fine. Positive thinking is the best thing that we can do right now for them. If we don't think positive, then that won't help them."

I nodded as we moved over a root system. "I know Blaster, but I don't know what I would do if,"

"Arcee stop worrying yourself." Blaster interrupted me.

Letting out a sigh, I continued on in silence since I knew that Blaster wouldn't let me worry out loud right now. Of course, I couldn't blame him. He was worried about Eject and how his symbiot was doing against the hunter. From what Blaster was communicating, Eject hadn't changed his gps location for five minutes. He had to be really worried about Eject and my negativity was not helping.

Before I could apologize, we reached the top of a hill and both Blaster and I froze as we took in the scene below us. To one side was Paul, Miko, Eject, and another symbiot that was colored black with yellow markings and a light gray faceplate. That was Rewind. I would be curious as to why he was here if it wasn't for the fight that was currently going on. There, fighting Airachnid, was a light-blue two-wheeler femme that was my height and had dark blue optics. There was only one bot that could be, and I knew that I had to get down there and help her.

Wasting no more time, I transformed my servos into blasters before firing on Airachnid. She, in turn, let out a hiss before she glanced at Blaster and I, who were coming down the hill. "Arcee, small universe." The spider femme greeted me as she put some distance between my sister, Blaster, and I.

Growling back at the femme, I stood next to Chromia before saying, "Too small Airachnid." While I wanted to greet Chromia since it has been hundreds of stellars since I had seen her, I knew that this was not the time. We had to take down Airachnid before we tried.

"Come now Arcee, is that any way to greet me?" Airachnid taunted me. While I wanted nothing more than to launch out at her and take out her spark, I knew that I had to be careful around her. She had already tricked me once into going on my instincts this solar, causing Paul, Miko, and Eject to be put in danger. I couldn't let her draw me away from the others again.

"Leave here 'Con." Chromia growled as she had her blasters pointed at Airachnid.

Airachnid glanced between the three of us and smirked. "I think this party is a little too crowded for my tastes. But," She then brought up a button before saying, "this planet is too interesting for me to leave. I think I'll stay around here for a while." She then pushed the button.

An explosion going off caused me to focus on the area beyond us, where the ship was, and I realized that she had blown up her own ship. That meant that she was now stuck on Earth with us and that meant that everything just became more dangerous. When we got signal back, we had to let the base know about this as soon as possible.

"'Cee!" I flinched as Chromia suddenly jumped on me and let out a laugh.

I then remembered the good bit of news about this encounter and hugged her back…though not as enthusiastically as she did me, before I said, "Chromia! When did you get here?"

She laughed and let go before saying, "I picked up Rewind on Sigma 8 and the two of us have been wondering the cosmos for a while. About three weeks ago, we were with a group of neutrals trying to make their own space bridge when it malfunctioned and we ended up here. We weren't really sure what to do so we've been living out here since then. When Airachnid's ship crashed, we went to investigate and we found Eject and the two humans running from Airachnid."

That was a relief that Chromia and Rewind were able to find Paul, Eject, and Miko. But, with that thought in mind, I realized that I had to start making introductions. "Chromia, Rewind; this is Miko, and this is Paul." I motioned to both humans in turn before turning to Chromia and Rewind. "Paul, Miko; this is Rewind, one of Blaster's symbiots, and Chromia, my sister and Ironhide's bondmate."

Chromia's faceplate lit up at my last point. "Ironhide is here?"

Nodding to her, I motioned for her to follow before saying, "Yeah, Ironhide showed up some solars ago. Bet he's going to be excited to know that you are here." She let out a laugh at that as I leaned down to pick up Paul, since Blaster had picked up Miko and Eject already.

But, as Paul moved onto my servo, I became concerned. He looked like he was thinking deeply about something. While I wanted to ask him about it, I remembered that Cliff had asked that we not bother Paul too much when he looked like he was thinking deeply. Cliff had said that Paul was really worried about his employee, Lizzie, that was still a captive of the Decepticons. I had to remember that he was suffering right now, even though the businessman put up a very convincing front.

It must be from his business background. Paul probably got used to putting on a false presence. When I got my report done, I would see if Cliff and Paul wanted to go on patrol with me. Might let Paul feel like he is doing something to find Lizzie.

 **Hook's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I was enjoying the rare quiet in the med bay. Joe was with Lizzie in Shockwave's lab getting warmed back up. Both she and Joe had lost track of time while they were in the Arctic and Lizzie had passed out from the cold. Soundwave, who could monitor Lizzie's condition through the chip that he had implanted in her back, had immediately groundbridged the two of them back here and had immediately gone to Knockout. The flamboyant medic was then able to rewarm the human to a point where she was conscious. Once that happened, Knockout then led both Lizzie and Joe, since he was now in trouble for letting her get in that position, to Shockwave's lab so the two of them could warm up.

The human was lucky that this had happened on a day that she did not have those lessons. I had been surprised that Lord Megatron had taken time to train this human in strategizing. Seemed like a waste of time to me when I first met the human. Sure, she seemed to get along with the bots on the ship, but there hadn't been anything that seemed stellar about her. My surprise was made greater when I heard that Lord Megatron had ordered Shockwave to take over the lessons for Lizzie. One of the greatest strategic processors in the Decepticons, if not the greatest, was now having to teach this human strategy. The only good thing I thought would come from it would be that Shockwave would be able to logically tell Lord Megatron how pointless training the human in being a tactician would be.

But, that didn't happen. Shockwave continued to give her lessons until this solar. This was a break and, if the rumors going around the ship were true, then the time was almost here for,

The sound of the med bay doors opening caused me to look up from my thoughts. I wasn't surprised to see Vox walk in. Ever since I got on the ship, I knew that the mech would eventually seek me out. I was almost surprised that it took the young intelligence mech this long to get me alone to talk. I didn't doubt that he had questions that I would be able to answer.

"Vox, it's good to see you are doing well." I started as Vox, to my surprise, started to climb onto one of the med berths. Once he was on, I let silence hang in the room for a few clicks before I finally addressed him. "Is there a reason that you are here right now? I don't remember scheduling any checkups. I believe you were supposed to be in your checkup with Knockout three clicks ago. Mind telling me why you are here?"

The young mech nodded his helm before saying, "No problem at all. Knockout asked me to come see you instead, since he heard about a race that can triple his money if he wins. Even got Carl to sit in and direct bots to you while he goes."

Really? "And how did Knockout happen to hear of this race?" I questioned the mech as I prepped the scanners. Since he was here, and Knockout knew it, I might as well get the checkup out of the way.

Vox let out a laugh before saying, "Oh, he must have overheard somebot talking about it to Breakdown."

Sure. That kid was sneaky at times but I could tell that he wasn't trying too hard to cover up that he had been the one talking to Breakdown about this race. Of course, I had no doubt that the race was real. Vox wouldn't lie about the information he was giving. That was what made him a prominent intelligence agent. He wasn't Soundwave, but he was pretty good.

"Well, might as well get this checkup done with. Sit still while I scan you." I ordered the mech. Vox stayed still as I let the scan run over him. Once it was complete, I plugged it in to the mainframe in the room. While that decoded the scan, I turned to Vox with a datapad in servo. "So kid, how's the knee joint holding up?"

In turn, Vox glanced down at his left knee and sighed. "Smarts every once in a while, but it was patched up pretty nicely." Vox then paused and I had a feeling that I had just opened the door to whatever it was that Vox was desperate enough to want to talk to me alone about that he would convince Knockout to go planetside and let me take care of his checkup. "Hook, can I ask you something?"

I figured I would make the mech work a little harder to ask it. "I have no doubt in your ability to ask a question Vox. But, you may ask me something if you wish. Not sure if I'll answer it or not."

That cracked a small smile on the mech's focused faceplate. "You're right of course." He then paused and let out a vent before continuing. "There has been something puzzling me in the back of my processor for these millions of stellars since I joined the Decepticons." Vox then looked at me so he was staring directly into my optics before he finally asked his question. "Why did you save me that solar? Why not let me bleed my energon out and offline? We were enemies. You had no reason to help me and, at the time, for all you knew, I had nothing to offer you."

I let out a huff and shook my helm. "Oh, you had something to offer me that solar Vox. You just didn't realize it at the time."

Flashback:

 _We were close. I could practically feel the bounty hunter's energon on my servos. I was a part of a special operations team known as the Constructicons. Mainly we were used for repairs but, every so often, a battle would get serious enough for us to have to combine into Devestator and knock the Autobots back. But, that wasn't possible anymore._

 _Three stellar cycles ago, a neutral bounty hunter had taken out Scrapper. The fragging bounty hunter had demanded payment for Scrapper's release. In the demand, the hunter requested two million credits for his return. We Constructicons were able to gather the credits and delivered them to the drop off point. The bounty hunter had then delivered Scrapper back to us…in twenty pieces. On his detached helm was etched an image of a flame. From reports that Long Haul was able to get for me through favors, we discovered that mark was used by a bounty hunter that called themselves 'Ember'._

 _That was what brought Mixmaster, Bonecrusher, and me out here. This was our solar 'off' in a sense and the three of us had offered to run preliminary search into Praxus. Long Haul had heard through his contact in the intelligence office that a neutral bounty hunter was seen in the area. I was on this three bot 'scouting' team as, of course, the medic. But, our group was doing more than just looking for anything else that was left of the remains of Praxus._

 _We did our part, looking for anything that could provide any information, but the three of us had another goal in mind. We were out here to try and find that bounty hunter. Even if it wasn't the same bounty hunter that the three of us were looking for, we could at least ask this bounty hunter if he could give us information on this bot. We would pay them, of course, but this was one of the best leads that we had on this bot…the murderer of our brother._

" _Hook," I turned to Bonecrusher as he stopped and showed me the signal scanner that he had been holding. He held it steady as both Mixmaster and I glanced at its screen. On it, there were… "Four signals coming up ahead. Our eta to them is about three clicks."_

 _I nodded and focused on the present. This could be Autobots. There was no doubt that they would be sending bots out to search the ruins of Praxus, like we were. They could have even gotten here before us. That was why I had Bonecrusher and Mixmaster with me. Out of us 'Constructicons' that were left, they were the most proficient in fighting. Sure, I could fight like any Decepticon worth their metal could. Lord Megatron didn't want any of his Decepticons to be without defense. That included his medics. I could hold my own in a fight, but it was always better to have bigger and stronger backup._

 _That basis was why the 'Constructicons' were formed. Bonecrusher and Scrapper were big bots and they wanted to have a group that watched out for smaller Decepticons than them, like myself, and they did just that. We were a team and, when I got my servos on the fragging neutral bounty hunter known as 'Ember' then they were going to pay for what they did to Scrapper._

 _Back to the present however, as I thought about what was on the scanner, something didn't seem right. Normally, Autobots split up their patrol groups to cover more ground and they normally kept moving. However, this group was made of four bots and they were clustered close together. Maybe this was the neutral bounty hunter that Long Haul had heard was in the area?_

" _Hook, three of the signals disappeared." What? I looked back after Bonecrusher said that and, sure enough, there was only one of the signals remaining on the screen. What the frag was going on?_

" _Proceed with caution." I warned my two fellow Constructicons._

 _They nodded before Mixmaster motioned me back. "Might want to give us some space." Right, because if this was an ambush it would be better if they were in front of me. Not too far ahead, but just enough to give them space to let loose if this was an Autobot attack._

 _After a couple of minutes, we ended up in what used to be a back alley. There was a back exit that explained why there was only one bot here now. But, why had the signals of the bots who had been with him disappeared?_

" _Hey boss, there's an Autobot still online over here." Mixmaster pointed to the end of the alley. It was surprising that the mech seemed to be just kneeling there. Why didn't he move?_

 _But then I got a better look at him and things were starting to come together in my head. He looked in a sorry sake, and I wasn't just talking about his injury. The look on his faceplate told me that something more must have happened here. I could see betrayal in his optics and that was compounded by the obvious sword in the knee that he was sporting. Since there weren't many other wounds on the mech, I doubted that he was a part of the battle for Praxus. Was this Autobot betrayed by the scouting unit that he had been a part of? Autobots rarely betrayed one of their own, if at all, and this seemed like a strange way for the Autobots to do so. At the very least, they would have killed the bot instead of leaving him alive and alone for his enemies to find._

" _What are going to do with him?" Bonecrusher asked me as he stepped next to me to look at the bot._

 _With the news that the neutral bounty hunter called 'Ember' had been in the area, this seemingly was the only bot nearby that could possibly give us any answers about the bounty hunter. While he was an Autobot and a part of me wanted to offline him right away, the stronger part of my processer knew that I would have to heal him up if I wanted any answers. True, I would be taking the risk in having to watch this Autobot while he was behind Decepticon borders…but Scrapper was worth it._

" _You two idiots get him back to base for repairs. Primus looks like this bot could use some." I started with a shake of my helm. I wouldn't be getting any answers out of him if he kept losing energon from that knee injury. I had to make sure that I wouldn't be losing the mech in front of me before I got some answers. "Then, we'll see what he has to say."_

 _As Bonecrusher and Mixmaster went to move the mech, being careful not to actually remove the sword from his knee but pick it up out of the ground, I looked at the Autobot. If he proved useful…well, we would see._

End of Flashback.

Vox kept optic contact with me for a few nano-clicks once I finished that story from the past before he looked up. "So, as much as I hate to admit it, I have Flamewar to thank for you finding me that solar…and for patching me up."

Even though that didn't sound like a question, I answered the younger mech. "While that is an unfortunate reasoning, I can't say that you are wrong. Flamewar killed the Constructicon leader and we wanted revenge. That even meant allowing an Autobot like you to live." I then let out one laugh before saying, "Of course, she ended up biting herself in the aft by bringing us together. I got to learn what I wanted about Flamewar, you didn't offline and joined the Decepticons to fight against her and the system that helped support her,"

"And I was able to provide the Decepticons with a critical asset that, if Flamewar would have waited a bit longer before betraying me, the Autobots would have had…and maybe even Flamewar herself."

I still didn't regret saving the mech that solar, and I wasn't sure if I ever would.

Before I could say more, the comm screen in the med bay lit up before it showed Lord Megatron. "Hook, Vox; I require you both to come to the throne room now." He then turned off the screen. Short and sweet. Maybe that human, if she survives long enough to pass her test, could use these new strategist skills to make Lord Megatron be less blunt with his orders.

But, an order was an order and I was not going to be the mech that disobeyed them. "Let's get moving Vox. Lord Megatron looked more serious than normal and that can only mean that we Decepticons are about to launch an operation."

Vox nodded and stood before the two of us made our way to the throne room. The trip didn't seem to take long and soon, Vox and I were walking into the throne room. To my surprise, Starscream, Soundwave, and Shockwave were in there waiting for us along with Lord Megatron. What were all three of them doing in here at the same time? The only time that had happened, while I had been on the ship, was when there was an operation going on against the Autobots.

"Lord Megatron, you summoned us?" Vox started with a bow of his helm toward Lord Megatron.

In return, Lord Megatron glanced at Vox before turning back to look at both of us. I had seen that kind of look before. Scrapper used to get that kind of look on his faceplate before we went on dangerous missions. He had that look on his faceplate before he went on the mission that caused him to be captured and then offlined. Now, it was on Lord Megatron. I could feel the tension in the air and, from a quick glance at the others in the room, they could feel it as well.

Then…Lord Megatron spoke. "Over the past several solar cycles, the Decepticons have been housing and training the human known as Lizzie Xantara Val. From the observations made by myself, Starscream, Soundwave, and Shockwave, I have decided that the time has come. The human called Lizzie must prove herself to be a viable part of the Decepticon war effort. And the only way that we feel that this can be accomplished, is by use of the Praxian database."

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 **Paul: *sits down* Am I ever getting Lizzie back? That would make all of this crap worth it.**

 **Authoress: *shrugs* Can't say really. Not sure of it completely myself. Obviously, things are changing though.**

 **Paul: *nods* True, and we just got two bots for the Decepticon one.**

 **Authoress: *smiles* Yes, and that one Decepticon isn't even with the Decepticons yet! So advantage Autobots!**

 **Paul: *suspicious* Hold on...how do you know she isn't with the Decepticons? *Authoress has vanished* Authoress get back here!**

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 **AN2: And this is the new chapter! *sighs in relief* Well I am thankful that this has finally come. It seems like the time has finally arrived for Lizzie Xantara Val to take her final test. Will she pass it? What obstacle does the Praxian database hold that will allow Lizzie to show what she has learned from the Decepticons? I guess we will find out together once I get that chapter written.**

 **While there were a few major points in this chapter, there is only one thing that I can say that can defend everything. Watch out for the little details. I have given small hints to what is to come in the chapters before and this chapter even held some small tidbits of information for the chapters ahead.**

 **...And speaking on the chapters ahead, here are the titles for the next ones!**

 **Chapter 13: Strategist**

 **Chapter 14: True Value**

 **Chapter 15:...? (Find out next time!)**

 **And that is all for now. The next story that I am going to be updating is going to be Glad You Called. After that...I am honestly not sure. With classes having begun again I'm not sure how updating times are going to work. But, they will work eventually and I have every faith that things will turn out alright.**

 **Please leave a review, even to say hi. I likes reviews. Flames will be used for some nefarious purpose (aka given to Rumble and Frenzy to use in pranks). That's all for now! TTYL! *thinking about how I am the nightmare***


	14. Strategist

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

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 **Lizzie: This looks stressful.**

 **Authoress: Of course it does. You are training to be a strategist and that is the title of this chapter. Obviously, something big is going to happen.**

 **Lizzie: *upset* Just rub it in why don't you?**

 **Frenzy: *laughs* Don't be so tense Lizzie. You'll to great!**

 **Rumble: *nods* Yeah. What's the worse that can happen?**

 **Lizzie: *panics* Don't say that in front of the Authoress!**

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 **AN: And here is where I respond to reviews that I couldn't respond to by PM.**

 **Guest: Sorry for the worry. I should be back for a while now so I'll try to not worry you again. I know I've thrown in a lot of bots but don't worry too much about it. There won't be any new Cybertronians added for a while now and the ones I have brought in won't be in focus for the most part. Maybe a POV here or there. As for Hot Rod, I'm sorry but I have this story planned out and he wouldn't fit in with the things I plan. However, there may be a possibility for a sequel when everything is said and done. Maybe there... Oh, and I am glad that I am alive too!**

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Chapter 13: Strategist

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"Deviations from strategies involving large-scale troop deployments, strategies involving high seeker battle involvement, adjustments to small-scale assaults in territories highly capable of being ambush sites…" I mumbled to myself as I read the notes on the datapads in front of me. My stress levels were at an all-time high over the past day. With how everybot was acting lately, I had a feeling that my test was coming very soon. It could come at any minute and I had to be ready for whatever they threw at me. Different climates, how many troops would be at my disposal, different classes of fighters from both our side and that of the enemy…all of it was probably going to be tested.

The one part of the test that I was going to fear was if something unexpected happened. Normally, a strategist could plan out a few strategies for what they faced based off what they were given as information. However, there was always the chance that something unexpected would happen. Something that couldn't be foreseen by the information that the strategist was given. However, the strategist had to be ready, on the spot, to come up with an alternative that would help guarantee the success of the mission.

That was hard to study for and was hard to translate from human to Cybertronian. Humans mentality, which I had been working of fusing with the Cybertronian mentality that I had been speed-learning over the time since I had been on the Nemesis, was very flexible and not always translatable to what a Cybertronian would observe of the situation.

"You looked stressed."

I jumped when I heard Rumble speak from behind me. When I turned, I saw that both Frenzy and he were sitting on the bed and staring at me sitting on Soundwave's workstation. Since they hadn't done their prank on me yet, I had a feeling that they were told to hold off on doing anything to me until this test was out of the way. If I died, then that would be more than enough revenge. If I managed to pass, however, then they would have that much more time to plan up a prank on me. At least, that was how I would get them to hold off on anything if I was in Soundwave's place.

In response to Rumble, however. "Of course. My final test could be given at any click and I need to be prepared for that. As easy as it would be to do, I don't want to end up as a stain on some operating table of Knockout's med bay." I reminded the twins as I continued to stare at all my notes.

Everything that I needed, for the most part, to keep me alive was laying stored in the datapads in front of me. I would be ready for whatever sort of test that I was given. I knew that much. Whether I passed it would be different.

"Lizzie," Frenzy started as the two of them crawled up to me. Once they were on the table, they walked over, and he continued. "I doubt that you are going to fail this test, Lizzie. You were able to make up a plan to prank us. That isn't easy to do, and we have overcome many pranks set up by strategists that were Decepticons. If they were allowed to live, then I bet you are going to do just fine."

A small smile slipped onto my face as I looked at the twins. "Thanks, mechs."

"So, if you do end up failing…I get your side of the bed…right?" Frenzy asked officially ruining the moment.

"No." I answered him bluntly as I turned back to my notes.

But, before I could return to studying, Soundwave walked in and came right up to the table. The three of us looked up at him as he looked down at us for a few nanos. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Soundwave's screen lit up before he started using clips. " _Our Lord and Master, requests your presence, head to the bridge."_ That meant that Lord Megatron was wanting to see me. A cold chill traveled down my spine as his words echoed in my head. Something told me that this was it. But, I wouldn't know for sure until I went with Soundwave.

So, I nodded. "Then we shouldn't keep Lord Megatron waiting any longer." I then hopped onto Soundwave's awaiting servo, after grabbing a datapad to keep more notes on, and waited. Soon, I was raised up into the air and saw that the twins were gathering up my datapads. That was even more evidence that this was probably it. I was going to have to prove myself to the Decepticons here with whatever plan Lord Megatron had planned for me to strategize.

Butterflies took up my entire stomach as we approached the doors to the bridge. Hopefully, I would be able to do this. I allowed the nervousness to stay there until we arrived at the doors of the bridge. Once Soundwave stopped, however, I quashed the butterflies. I needed a calm head to get passed this and butterflies were not going to help.

The doors to the bridge opened and I felt my stomach sink slightly at the sight of all the Decepticons, who weren't drones, standing there staring at me. I was slightly intimidated by the look that Astrotrain was sending me and I decided to look away from him and toward the focus of my thoughts; Lord Megatron. I tried to look as deferential as I could as he studied me with a studying look. I felt like he was boring into my soul with that look.

Since he was the one that asked me here, I figured that I should get this started. "Lord Megatron, you requested my presence?" I gently prodded the leader to get on with what I was sure was about to happen.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Astrotrain tense and everybot else look at Lord Megatron as he suddenly moved, nodding his helm, before he spoke. "Yes Lizzie Val, I did." He then motioned to one of the monitors. With a few clicks of the keys provided by Vox, the screen lit up and showed a string of Cybertronian. From the little that I had been practicing on learning since Soundwave became my guardian and the twins took up being my friends and personal bodyguards, I could tell that this was some classified database. My first thought was that it was the Iacon database. But, then my memories flashed back to the show and, unless that had changed too, then the Decepticons couldn't get into that yet…if they even had it. This was something different…and something bigger.

"What…is this?" I asked slowly, in awe of the amount of information that was being displayed on the screen in front of me.

To my dying day, which I hoped wasn't going to be soon, I swore I saw a quick smirk on Lord Megatron's faceplate before he spoke. "This is the Praxian database. Thanks to the efforts of Vox, we were able to have sole access to this while the Autobots don't even know that it still exists. During our decoding, we came across a set of coordinates that are located here on this planet."

He then motioned to Vox, who nodded before typing in some more things before the coordinates came up onto the screen. He then typed a few more things in before the image of a glaciated island came up on the screen. "Rudulf Island, a part of humanity's Russian Federation. Arctic conditions that may cause problems after long exposure. The coordinates point to a glacier wall that is near a frozen tundra." Vox reported to me as he zoomed in on the location. "There are various locations where both ourselves and the enemy could lie in wait. At this location, we believe that there should be a data cylinder. What is contained within that cylinder is unknown. However, it can't fall into enemy servos."

I nodded once at the information that Vox had just presented me. Before I could respond to it, however, Lord Megatron began to speak again. "I wish for you, Lizzie, to plan a strategy that will allow us to retrieve the cylinder with as little injury as possible while causing the enemy as much confusion as you can plan. All of our troops will be needed for this mission to be completed. The number of drones that accompany us can be determined by you and how your planning turns. You have one cycle to plan out your strategy."

"Of course, Lord Megatron." I answered him as I hopped into Soundwave's awaiting servo. As my guardian turned to the door, I whipped out the datapad that I had brought with me and immediately dug up all the research that I could on Rudulf Island and the different scenarios that could take place. From what I was seeing already, there were not many flat surfaces on the island. That would allow both our side and the Autobots to have full use of cover and the same footing while in bot mode. However, we would have an advantage with the air since the Autobots only had one flier, the triple changer Springer, while we boasted eight total bots, who were not drones, who could fly.

As Soundwave neared his room, I felt a quick sense of adrenaline course through me. My moment was now and even Primus would not be getting in my way. I _would_ pass this and I was going to make sure that I planned for everything that could come my way.

I would not fail!

 **Soundwave's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I felt a small feeling of worry come from Frenzy and Rumble as the three of us watched Lizzie plan out her strategy to retrieve the cylinder that was uncovered in the Praxian database. Even though we had a copy of the Iaconian database, and we had decoded a large number of its contents, Lord Megatron felt that retrieving the items that were hidden within the codes of the Praxian database would be best for the Decepticon cause.

It was information that the Autobots did not have access to and that would place us one step ahead of the enemy. Plus, while the Iaconian database held the locations of powerful relics and important data that was being held in Iacon, the Praxian database had been used to store many more weapons and more information than the Iacon database did. If we were able to retrieve most of the items stored in the records of the Praxian database, then we would be able to overcome the items that the Iaconian database had in its codes.

Before we learned of Vox's transfer to the Decepticon ranks, we had heard that the Praxian database had been wiped right after the attack. Our intelligence reports had discovered that an Autobot had been at the controls before the systems in Praxus wiped the information. However, what they hadn't realized was that the Autobot had been able to download the database before it had been wiped. Vox had been the only bot with that knowledge before Hook and his team found the mech and fixed him up.

Now, that very database that gave us the edge in this war was being used to test the usefulness of my charge in the ranks of the Decepticons. I would be lying to myself if I said that I wasn't worried. Lizzie was, after all, only human and even though she was able to live this long, the human mind only had so much room for storing information and that information could not be downloaded and saved like it could with our own processors. She would be pushed to her limits to make sure that we were the ones that retrieved the relic.

If she failed, then I would have to stand by with the twins and watch as she is offlined. She was my responsibility and I wasn't sure how it would affect me if she failed. Since Starscream had chosen me to be her guardian…and that position was reaffirmed by Lord Megatron, I felt responsible for her fate. Plus, I knew that the twins were very attached to her along with Laserbeak. They would be sending their feelings of grief to me, if she failed, for many stellars at the least. However, the pain that would follow her offlining would not outweigh the cost of failure for this mission.

" _Hey boss,"_ Rumble suddenly spoke over our shared bond. " _You want the report on Lizzie now?_ "

I had asked the twins to keep me informed on how Lizzie was progressing with her strategizing for this mission. If it seemed like she was struggling, I wanted to brace myself for her inevitable failure. Her struggling now meant that she had a higher chance of falling apart when her plan was being implemented. " _Proceed."_ I ordered the two since I could feel that Frenzy was in the communication as well.

Frenzy spoke first. " _Honestly boss, she seems to be a lot calmer than I thought she would be. She has about twenty clicks left, and she already has a main plan and is diving into multiple backup strategies just in case something goes differently from what she planned."_

That was a positive feedback from the two of them. With their report, Lizzie's odds of passing this test were much better than they originally were. With the information that Lizzie was diving into backup strategies, I realized that she was taking this test as seriously as she should, and I could tell that she did not want to fail.

Looking at the little information that we could find on her, I could see that failing was not something that was a regular part of Lizzie's past life among her fellow humans. Her work reviews showed a positive increase for the most part and, in the case of the rare report that there was something that went down, Lizzie seemed to have improved on that skill for the next one. The profile that I was building on her showed a being who worked tirelessly to accomplish their goal, almost to a fault, and wouldn't let anything stand in her way.

Now that I looked at it, Lizzie was probably the biggest mystery on the ship. Not much was known about her and, even with the information that the twins had been strategically retrieving from her, there was still many parts of Lizzie's past that were important that were still unknown at this time.

Yet, despite all of the holes in her profile, Lizzie had somehow become an integral part of the Decepticons…without even being an official Decepticon. With the exception of Astrotrain, who did not seem to appreciate Lizzie in the slightest, ever single other bot seemed to have been positively affected by her being here. That included not only the one Decepticon whose name was to be away from any of our processors until his battle debut…which I realized would be this very test, but even our own leader. Lord Megatron had returned to a stable and calm-helmed approach to this war due to Lizzie's interference and that could tip the war in our favor.

If she were to fail in this task, then that would be a large blow against the Decepticon ability to move forward not only here on Earth, but in the war entirely. Not enough to make us lose but enough where plans could be set back for many stellars.

" _Hey boss,_ " Frenzy spoke through the comm. Since he wasn't speaking over the link, then I had an accurate guess as to what he was about to report. " _Lizzie says that she is ready to present her strategy to Lord Megatron. Can you come and get us?"_

Us? Lizzie's plan involved the twins? I was interested how she was able to do that since she knew that I did not want them to be revealed to the Autobots unless the situation was dire. However, I knew that the only way that I was going to find out that information was to go back to my room, pick up Lizzie and the twins, and return with them to the bridge. I did not waste time in leaving the med bay, where I had decided to wait, and make my way to my room. Lizzie's plan was complete, and now it was time for her strength to be tested.

 **Cliffjumper's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I felt a nervous tick go through my soliform as I stared at the events transpiring on the training room floor. This wasn't right. I was Paul's guardian but all I could do right now was watch as Paul got battered from side to side. Early this solar, Sentinel, Flamewar, and Pitch had asked Paul if he wanted to train with them in a two on two style. I wasn't awake for the solar yet and I couldn't jump in and offer to train with them. From what I was seeing from the three and how they were ganging up on Paul, I wish I had.

But, thankfully, the four of them weren't the only ones up. Down their fighting with Paul against Sam Major, Percy Chandler, and Felicity Wade…who were Sentinel, Pitch, and Flamewar respectively…was Ashland Vale, who was actually Zarron. Even though my own opinion of the new mech was on hold while I tried to find more information on the mech than what he told us, I knew that I was at least willing to trust him in this situation.

Plus, watching him fight on Paul's side against the three bots who were ganging up on him was adding a positive for him in my books as well. At one point, Sam, Percy, and Felicity had cornered Paul when Zarron had been knocked aside by Felicity. However, before they could do too much, Ashland had jumped right back into the fray and had thrown Percy away from Paul and engaging him in battle. Honestly, out of the three, Percy…Pitch, was the one that I was the most nervous around. He seemed to be taking the most pleasure in landing hits on Paul.

Of course, Paul wasn't doing half bad on his side of things. He was dodging the blows from the soliforms while countering with his own. While I didn't like that Paul was fighting in the first place, we knew that the Decepticons had this same technology for soliforms and that could mean that we might have to fight them on a human level.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the timer went off for the ten-click training center. Honestly, I felt like Pitch, Sentinel, and Flamewar were doing this with the sole purpose of beating up a human…and Paul was the only one who would. While a part of me wanted to ask Paul if anything was going on that I should be worried about, I knew that Paul was an adult in human standards and he would talk if something was going on.

Once I was sure that Paul was on his way to his room, I shut down the program for the soliform and returned to my chassis, which I had left in the main room. Once I was back in awareness, I moved to find Zarron. This seemed like as good a time as any to get some questions about the mech answered.

Out of all the bots that have shown up here on Earth, the two bots that I had almost no information on were Pitch and Zarron. My plan for Pitch's information was to ask Wheeljack. I was pretty sure Pitch wouldn't give me the information I wanted and Wheeljack seemed to have a history with Pitch if I was to take the glances the two kept throwing at each other to mean anything.

Even though Zarron seemed like a lone-cyber-wolf type of bot at times, he also seemed more willing to give up information on himself than Pitch was. So, I walked over to the door to his room and knocked on it.

"Come on in Cliffjumper." Zarron's voice came from the other side of his door.

How did he know that it was me on the other side? I guess that would be a good way to start off the questions that I had for the two-wheeler. So, once I opened the door and stepped inside, while closing the door behind me, I did just that. "How did you know I was at the door?"

The mech, who was sitting on the edge of his berth, smirked. "Well, a few things gave you away. The obvious one was that you kept studying my interactions with Paul during that…training session we had with Sentinel, Pitch, and Flamewar. Given that Paul is your charge, I figured you would seek me out and have questions about me. I'm not exactly a bot who has an open-book history that you can look at. I prefer it that way. When bots don't know a lot about me, they can't use that information against me. Not many bots are allowed to get close to me but, if they do, I protect them fiercely with all the skill I possess. So, with my interest in Paul, you would want to see what kind of bot I am."

Zarron was good. He just gave me a lot of sentences with very little information. "You said a few things gave me away. What else gave me away?" I was curious about how he had figured out it was me besides my watching him during that training exercise.

"Another thing that gave you away was how you knocked at the door. Most of the other bots here would have knocked on the door very confidently. Since you are worried and seem more worried then you let on, your knock was hesitant." Zarron then paused. "However, the most important thing that gave you away…and what gives most bots away, were your pedesteps."

…My pedesteps? "How did my pedesteps give me away?" Now I was really confused.

In return, Zarron gave me a quick studying look before he answered me. "I am a scout by training. As a part of the training I received, I learned that each bot has a unique sound to their pedesteps…even when they try to disguise them. Using just a bots pedesteps, I can tell who they are, how far away they are, and how heavily armed they are. Sometimes, if I know the bot well enough, I can tell what sort of emotions they are feeling."

Well, frag. Remind me not to get on his bad side. I had never met the mech before and he could already tell when I was coming down the hall. While I wanted to ask him more about that, I did come here with questions I wanted to be answered. "First, I do want to thank you for watching out for Paul during training."

Zarron waved off my thanks. "No need to thank me. I enjoy training when the odds are against me. Gives me a better feel for what's around me."

Something told me that he meant more by that then was said. But, since I was on a mission of questions, I took the big one first. "I do want to ask you something though. Why were you on Cybertron with Springer's group in the first place?"

Now Zarron looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Guess I had to explain. "I mean why were you on Cybertron? From what I asked of Springer, he said you showed up from being attached to a platoon that is supposed to be on one of the satellite planets of Andellor." I did try to get information on Zarron before this. But, that tidbit from Springer was the only thing that I could find.

Zarron's faceplate went neutral and I couldn't tell what he was thinking in the few clicks that we sat in silence. But, after a few clicks, the scout finally spoke. "I can't give you all the information you want to know. However, what I can say was that I was asked to return to Cybertron by one of my closest friends to do what I do best. Being here on Earth doesn't change that mission."

"Ah."

What else could I respond with? That wasn't a lot of information to work with. But, what it did tell me was that Zarron was looking into somebot who was a part of the Cybertron groups. That was the only way that being on Earth wouldn't hinder Zarron's search. But, there were eight other bots total who could fall under that and, since I knew so little on Zarron, then it could be any of those eight. Blaster, Eject, Blurr, Sentinel Major, Pitch, Flamewar, Ironhide, and Springer all had the chance to be in Zarron's sights. But, I didn't think I was getting the name of the bot that Zarron was looking into.

"I don't expect you to trust me completely." Zarron continued to my surprise. "If I was in your position I wouldn't either. The only word that I can promise you is that I mean no Paul no ill will and I wish to continue watching out for his safety."

While I didn't trust the mech completely still, I could tell that I could at least trust him around Paul. So, I nodded. "If you could keep an optic on Paul, I would appreciate it."

Before another word was said, the alarm in base sounded so Zarron and I didn't waste any time in leaving his room and making our way down the hall. We were met by Blurr and Blaster, who both threw me strange looks. Wasn't sure what they were for but, right now, we didn't have time.

Once we got to the main room, since we were the last, Ratchet spoke. "Scanners have detected an Autobot homing beacon located at a place called Rudulf Island. It is an arctic location, so proper defrosting procedures will need to be enacted upon the team's return as well as scanners set to monitor core temperatures."

Optimus nodded before taking over. "I have no doubt that the Decepticons are already at the location. Given the increase in their ranks, our recovery team will consist of Ironhide, Springer," Of course. There was little doubt that the Decepticons would be bringing their triple changer; Astrotrain. We needed to bring ours as well. "Pitch, Zarron, Bulkhead, Chromia, Flamewar, Bumblebee, and myself." Well, I was bummed that I wasn't going to be a part of the initial strike force. "Cliffjumper, Arcee, Wheeljack, Sentinel Major, Blurr, and Blaster will be on reserve as a second strike team if the first team's core temperatures fall to dangerous levels." Well, at least if the 'Cons decided to try and make this a long battle, I would get to put some dings in them.

Glancing at Paul, who looked concerned, I hoped I could…for his sake. His employee was still their captive and, with no word at all coming about her from the Decepticons, I had a feeling that she was already gone. But, I wasn't going to be the one to tell Paul that unless we were positive. While there was hope that she could still be alive, I would work my tailpipe off to get her back for him. Maybe we could see the real side of Paul once she was back and safe. If I got to go out, I would try and press the Decepticons about her condition.

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

Even though I felt a tension in my spine due to the stress that this test was giving me, I had to admit that I was happy. Happy that the Autobots were as predictable as I thought that they would be. From the safety of the Nemesis, with the Twins next to me, I watched as the battle unfolded how I planned it out to be.

The Autobots wouldn't risk a full assault rush into this situation without knowing what was going on. For all they knew, the Autobot signal that was attached to the relic was really an Autobot that had crash-landed on the island. So, they sent about half of their forces…that I knew of, to the location, which was a frozen area that was surrounded by canyons, a nice amount of fighting space, and a frozen lake in the middle. With how the fighting should go, though, the lake shouldn't be a large factor.

As I figured, they also brought their heavy guns out first. They would want to deal with this situation as quickly as they could. Plus, triple changer versus triple changer usually was the best strategy and, since they knew we have Astrotrain, then they were going to have to bring Springer along with them. So, I had constructed a simple team to counteract them.

It would be strange if Lord Megatron was not there among them along with Starscream. Shockwave was helping to deal with long-range attacks from Ironhide and Chromia…who I did not realize was on Earth. However, her taking the same role as Ironhide in the battle did not alter my plans. Lord Megatron was, of course, duking it out with Optimus. Those two were the only ones who should really battle each other in my opinion.

Then, Thundercracker and Vox, along with about fifteen of the thirty drones, were busy using servo to servo combat with Flamewar and Bumblebee. Starscream and Soundwave were keeping Pitch and Zarron occupied with long-range weaponry while Knockout stood by the five miners excavating this relic…whatever it was. The final bot in this attack was stationed on the figurative flank of the battlefield, our weakest side, and out of sight. If any Autobots tried to flank around the main fighting force while we were distracted, they would be in for one shocking awakening.

Backtracking though, I found myself staring at Pitch and Zarron. From the battle footage that Soundwave and Laserbeak were sending me, I could tell that the two were tense around each other and they did not seem happy that they were near each other. Honestly, when Paul had informed me, at the end of Deus Ex Machina, of their arrival here on Earth, I thought I was hearing things.

Pitch and Zarron.

They were not creations of Primus…in the normal sense. They were the creations of my brain. Molded and etched to fit the roles that I had created for them. Zarron, the incredibly skilled scout with equal loyalty to those he cared about. However, it took him some time to completely trust a bot that he was meeting and, at times, working with. Zarron was a lone-wolf character, to anything that wasn't already in his circle of confidants, with a processor that was sharp enough to go up against even Shockwave. I had to be careful when trying to plan around his interference. Honestly, he was part of the reason that I had my backup plan stationed at all.

The other reason, and for opposite reasons, was next to Zarron. Pitch. A bot who, in some of my stories, was the leader of a faction of bots that took cruelty and punishment many levels too far…who felt immense joy and pleasure seeing others suffer. Pitch was a mech who I created to be the actual embodiment of evil. Pure unfiltered evil.

I still remembered that day so long ago when I had made the two of them. During the school day, I had been ganged up on by a group of bullies that were new to town. If it wasn't for a group of high schoolers stepping in, a group that I made sure to make friends with later and who I made into some of my OCs, then that situation could have been pretty bad. One of the high schoolers had a little brother around my age and we were really close friends. But, they had to move during my sophomore year of high school. His name was Cole Smith. Not a unique name but he shared many characteristics that I had given Zarron.

When I had gotten home after that close call, I had been inspired to create Zarron, after Cole, and Pitch came from the leader of the group of bullies that Cole's big brother and his friends had helped get to back off me. His name had been Aaron Higgins. To me, he seemed to have a heart that was pitch black…where I got the name Pitch from. Zarron's name…well, Cole had picked it out. He never told me where he got it from, but it had fit the bot that I had created using my friend.

Now, both of those characters had to work side by side and it seemed wrong to watch it. They were, in my mind, enemies. Their personalities shouldn't allow them to work together and, from the footage I was getting from Laserbeak and Soundwave, they weren't exactly happy about the arrangement.

If I was able to survive this test and become a member of the Decepticons, I realized suddenly that I was going to have to go back through my mind and dig up any and all information that I had about the bots that I had created. It seemed like they were appearing in this dimension as actual bots and I needed to factor in their interference for future plans…

…Assuming that there would be more.

Movement from the live video that Soundwave was sending caused me to focus. But, as I did, my heart froze in my throat. It was a burning freeze that was causing my heart rate to increase as my mind started to fall into panic. Somehow, Flamewar had been able to get to Knockout just as he had the relic in his servos, which was a data-cylinder, and had started fighting him for control of it. But, somehow, their fighting caused both bots to lose their grip on the cylinder and it was flung out into the middle of the lake…where it was stuck half showing.

Slag!

My heart felt like it was squeezing itself into oblivion as I stared at the screen in shock. This couldn't be happening! Nothing in my plans had called for the relic being stuck in the middle of the frozen lake. It hadn't seemed like a possibility. But, now it was more than a possibility…it was a reality!

If I didn't snap out of this shock I was in…then I was as good as dead!

* * *

 **Lizzie: Slag I'm going to die. *panicking***

 **Frenzy: *panicked* You can't die! We still need to prank you back!**

 **Authoress: *stressed* You shouldn't have said that.**

 **Lizzie: *angry* Is that the only reason that I shouldn't die!?**

 **Rumble: *pulls Frenzy away from Lizzie* Dude, that's not the only reason!**

 **Lizzie: *happy* Why thank you,**

 **Rumble: *interrupts* We have to deal with the boss moping around...along with everybot else if she kicks it. *looks and sees Lizzie's angry look* Of course, we would be sad if she kicked it too.**

 **Lizzie: *unconvinced* Uh-hu.**

* * *

 **AN2: And here is the next exciting chapter! I can't believe that it has been so long since I left all of you off on a cliffhanger! It is so much fun! So many goodies in this chapter and there are still more to come! The first big news is that Lizzie is now taking her test! But, something has gone wrong! How will she ever get out of this now? *thinks of the little details***

 **Secondly, The only Decepticon who is still unknown to you all seems closer than ever to being revealed. That will be the next chapter I promise you all that. It should be quite a lot of fun once it happens though. I wonder if any of you know who it is?**

 **Thirdly, and with the Autobots, Cliffjumper is worried. He is worried about this training that Paul is doing with the soliforms of Sentinel, Pitch, and Flamewar and he is worried about Zarron and his motives for being around. (of course, he is definitely more worried about the first of those problems than the second one). What is Zarron doing here and why was he sent to investigate the bots that came from Cybertron? Which bot is he investigating? That will be revealed in time...though I have left small clues that might be able to tell you...and they are not all in this chapter. XD**

 **Oh, before I forget...the titles of the next chapters!**

 **Chapter 14: True Value**

 **Chapter 15: Unfortunate Side Effects**

 **Chapter 16:...? (find out next time!)**

 **Well, that's all I have to say for now. Please drop a review even if it is to say hi...or that you don't like being left on the cliffhanger...or some criticism for how I am treating Paul and Lizzie...either way, a review would be nice to see! =) Flames will be used to warm my freezing fingers. Until next time, TTYL! *sings about a place where the air is not so clean***


	15. True Value

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

* * *

 **Authoress: Lizzie, you need to breathe.**

 **Lizzie: Breathe? *panicking* I am about to fail and you want me to breathe!**

 **Frenzy: *nods* Makes sense. If you are about to die, you would want to breathe as much as possible before you are offlined.**

 **Lizzie: *glares* Thanks for the confidence boost.**

* * *

Chapter 14: True Value

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I knew that I had to move. I had to plan a counter to this monkey wrench…and quickly! My very life was dependent on me moving the little gray cells that made up my brain and actually figure this out! But, my mind could only focus on that fragging cylinder sticking out from the ice in the lake. So many things were going against me that I couldn't focus on anything else. I knew that my battle plan needed to be readjusted and quickly. The Autobots were going to be regrouping due to this unforeseen event and I had to get my act together.

But, all I could focus on was that fragging cylinder and the memories that it was triggering. My life was literally flashing before my eyes. All the fun times and bad times. All the struggles and self-revelations. This was to be my last big accomplishment? Surviving just over a month with the Decepticons? Was that really it? I was just starting to see a new and unexpected side to the Decepticons. Frag it, I had even seen,

And like a bullet, the answer to what I needed to do came through my head and took my panic with it. There was more that I could do to save this mission and by Primus was I going to use everything that I had to make sure that I was going to succeed!

"Slag Lizzie what's going on?" Rumble asked from next to me. Guess my sudden movement and grabbing of datapads startled the two of them.

As I scrolled through the datapad that I needed, I spoke to them. "I know how I am going to get us that relic before the Autobots. But, I am going to need both of your help."

I could see their confusion as I finally found the file that I was looking for. Divide and conquer was a great strategy to use but I was needing to combine it with a little subterfuge to really throw the Autobots for a loop. This datapad had notes on how I could do that. As I read what I needed to do, though, Frenzy asked a question. "What do you mean? You know Soundwave doesn't want us to go out into the battle."

Nodding at that, I typed on the monitor in front of me while answering them. "You won't be going to the battle. Do you all carry false Autobot beacons on you?"

Frenzy nodded and pulled out a devise that I was assuming was the beacon. "Yeah, standard use for all of us."

A smirk spread across my face at that. "Perfect." I then connected to Soundwave's comm link. "Soundwave? Change in plans. I'm going to need you to open a ground bridge for Rumble and Frenzy about three miles away from your location. They are going to be placing a false Autobot beacon there before returning to base. If Lord Megatron agrees, I need everybot but Knockout, our rear guard, Florian, Flare, Frost, Laserbeak, and about four other drones to go to that location. Act like it is showing signs of being even more valuable than the cylinder. The Autobots won't risk us getting something that is even more dangerous to them than the cylinder, so they will send most, if not all, of their forces to the signal's location. Our rear guard, Knockout, Laserbeak, and the other four drones will act as cover fire for Florian, Flare and Frost. The three of them will retrieve the cylinder for us."

Instead of Soundwave answering, however, a different voice came through the speakers. " _That sounds like a workable plan. We will do our part. I hope for your sake that the three drones can pull this off."_ I flinched slightly as Lord Megatron's vocals came through the other side. Soundwave must have patched the leader in immediately when I called in. Thanks for the warning Soundwave. Really appreciate it.

"Yes, Lord Megatron." I responded to him before I turned off that communication. As a ground bridge opened for the twins, I connected the monitor in front of me to the three comm signals that I needed to be in contact with for this to work. "Florian, Flare, Frost; do you read me?"

Thankfully, they responded quickly. " _We hear you, coordinator."_ Coordinator. That was what the Decepticons out there were supposed to address me by for this. Didn't want the Autobots to realize that the human 'prisoner' on the ship was the one who was planning out this mission to get something away from them. The one who answered was Florian, if I was recognizing his vocal pattern correctly.

"Florian, you three are going to be retrieving the cylinder." I told the three of them pretty bluntly.

" _How the frag do you expect the three of us to get the cylinder? Not even the big bots can get it and we break easier than they do!"_ Flare asked in a panicked voice.

I had to get him calmed down, so I could explain. "Flare, hold off on the panicking. It's not helping anybot right now. I saw the three of you the other solar, when you went with a group of others to the Arctic. You three can work together and skate to the cylinder, grab it, and get to the other side with ease."

Finally, Frost put in his opinion. " _Coordinator, that would be exposing us and, like Flare said, we aren't as sturdy as the command forces."_

While that was normally a problem, I could soothe their processors on that point. "Don't worry on that. You will have backup in the form of four other drones, Knockout, Laserbeak, and the rear guard." I then paused and let that sink in before I brought the point home full circle. "This mission is the test to see if I can be of use to the Decepticons or if I need to be killed just in case the Autobots get a hold of me. I am placing my very life in your servos. Will you help me?"

That seemed to change their attitudes about this. " _Just tell us when Coordinator."_ Florian responded.

Frost was next. " _We will use all of our skill to help you complete the mission."_

" _Yeah, we'll make sure that the Autobots don't get the cylinder or offline trying!"_ Flare responded enthusiastically before he hesitated. " _Just…try not to get us offline."_

"You got it. I'll contact you three when it is time. Get to a distance where you can pick up speed to get to the cylinder and take it out." I reassured them before telling them.

" _Roger._ " All three responded at once before I turned to the screen. Now, I just had to wait for the twins to get back and for the others to move toward the fake location. I had to make sure that the others were cleared out before I started the real move. I just hoped that this would work.

 **Soundwave's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I had been worried. When the cylinder had broke half-way through the ice, and Lizzie didn't respond immediately, I thought she was going to crack under the pressure of the unexpected happening. Through my millions of stellars, I had seen plenty of able Cybertronians fall apart under this same stress. The clicks had ticked by and there had been no reaction from Lizzie.

Then, just when I thought she had broken, the twins had sent me a quick feeling of surprise. When I asked them what was going on, they said that Lizzie was diving into the datapads with a renewed energy. She had then contacted me with her new plan and I had immediately patched Lord Megatron into the call. This was his test to her to see if she could earn her place among our ranks. He should be kept in the loop. However, she had made the right call in contacting me first. I was her liaison for this mission and that meant that I had to move all communication.

Lizzie's plan, while unusual, was one that would throw the Autobots a surprise and would allow us to succeed in the mission with very few casualties. So far, only four of the thirty drones had fallen and seven of them were injured…though not critically. If that femme hadn't gotten through the line, then Lizzie's original plan would have allowed her to pass this test. I had already contacted the rear guard about the plan.

" _Hey boss bot, we are ready to place the beacon."_ Rumble contacted me. I had transported them to a location three miles away, like Lizzie had planned, and they had been trying to find a good place to set the beacon. Also, the twins had added a little something to Lizzie's diversion plan that would surprise the Autobots. Even though they didn't plan on telling her about it until after this was over, I was sure she would appreciate the bonus…if she survived.

I sent a quick message to Lord Megatron letting him now that the signal was about to go off before I reconnected with the twins. " _Activate it."_ While they were doing that, I connected with Laserbeak. " _Laserbeak, you know the plan. Keep feeds open with Lizzie and me._ " Since my communication with the twins and Laserbeak was through our symbiot bond, then I could use Lizzie's name.

" _Roger that boss._ " She responded to me while flying to be closer to the cylinder. While she wasn't going to be active in the plan, I wanted to keep an optic on her.

Almost as soon as I sent her off, the signal appeared on my scanners and I showed Lord Megatron, who was close to my position. Once he saw it, he began his part of the new plan. "Knockout, remain here with seven drones to watch the cylinder. All other Decepticons, move to the new coordinates. There isn't a click to waste and I will personally take out any who hold this up." Lord Megatron spoke his part very convincingly and I could see that the words had convinced the Autobots that something more important was going on.

"Autobots, return to base to move to the new coordinates." Optimus ordered. While I had no doubt that the Autobots had reserves at their base, the risk of letting us move and get the relic was enough of a fear factor that made this too great of a risk for them to take.

As I moved through the ground bridge that I had opened, I connected with Laserbeak's visual and observed the Autobot retreat. Every Autobot on the field moved to go through their bridge except for Flamewar and Pitch. I wasn't happy that they were the two Autobots remaining behind, but I knew that Laserbeak had plenty of backup just in case the two of them started to fire on her. But, I knew that Lizzie was not going to give the two Autobots that much of a break.

When I appeared on the other side, I saw that the drones that came with us were already moving to the beacon's location. They were going to act like they were mining for an item to keep up with the façade. Not long after I arrived and closed our bridge, another bridge opened and the Autobots were quick to file out. Like I suspected, Optimus had switched out many of the team that had been at the cylinder's location with others from their base.

I soon found myself in battle with the Autobot Cliffjumper, which I was glad for. I wouldn't have to focus entirely on our fight and could monitor the other part of the plan. "Where is the human? Where is Lizzie?" Cliffjumper demanded of me as he struck out with his blade.

Like I was going to answer that. While I blocked the Autobot's blade, though, I wondered. How would these Autobots react if they realized that the human that they were trying to 'save' was the one that had set up this entire mission plan and, as long as this plan went like she wanted, would soon be a part of the Decepticons? It might be a blow to their psyche that would help us but, I knew that, keeping Lizzie's condition from them completely would really upset their function. Cliffjumper here proved that. He was allowing his worry for Lizzie to distract him from the fight.

Since I didn't want to hear the Autobot keep going on, I took a pause and threw him toward Thundercracker. He would be able to distract the Autobot for now. Since the Autobot was out of the way, I focused on Laserbeak's visuals and watched as Lizzie's plan started to unfold.

 **Skywarp's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

This was exciting! I was watching the battle from behind Lizzie, since I was hanging out in Soundwave's room with her, and things were getting interesting. Once the others had left, and the Autobot bridge had disappeared, Lizzie had immediately signaled for the three drones to launch. And frag did they. I didn't even know that we could move on ice like that. Right now, they were about half-way to the cylinder and Knockout, with the other four drones, were giving cover fire. Since I didn't come in until Lord Megatron was leading the others through the ground bridge to the fake location, I didn't know what Lizzie's plan was for this. But, I was pretty sure she wasn't going to fail. She had helped me prank the twins…even though I was the only one so far to suffer from that, and that took more planning then this kind of mission.

"Lizzie, are you sure that they are going to be able to get the cylinder?" Frenzy asked Lizzie as they stood next to her.

In return, she nodded. "I don't doubt it. We are keeping Pitch and Flamewar from firing at the three of them and we haven't suffered many casualties. I've earned their trust and they are going to make sure that they go after that cylinder with everything that they have." Plus, even though she didn't say it, we all knew that she really cared for almost every single one of us…Astrotrain might be an exception to that. But, he deserved it. The fragger had been against Lizzie since click one.

…But that wasn't important right now.

As I looked at the screen I saw that the drones were at the cylinder. My optics widened as Florian and Flare held onto Frost as they turned, and he leaned toward the cylinder. His servos grabbed it and, with a yank, they pulled it from the ice. With the speed that they were going, they were moving ahead of the cracks that were now forming in the ice. If any of us fliers had tried to land and get it, then we would have fallen through the ice.

Of course, …I wasn't there because my warping capabilities would expose my circuits to the cold more and I would be more of a problem then a help. It sucked but at least I could watch the action here.

Movement on Laserbeak's feed caused me to focus on it and I saw that Flamewar had detached from Pitch and was moving around the lake quickly. If she got to the side that Knockout and the other drones were on before the three got back to the ice, then she could screw everything up and cause casualties. "Lizzie, you might,"

"Don't worry Skywarp." Lizzie said while typing on the monitor in front of her. "I've got it covered." She then spoke to whoever it is that she connected with. "Okay, you're up. Laserbeak will send you the feed."

 **Flamewar's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

Did these Decepticons really think that this little plan of theirs was going to work? True, I was almost tricked by the Decepticons splitting their forces like they did. Only leaving a medic with a group of drones would usually signal that they were going to leave the cylinder alone until the others got back. But, Pitch had convinced Optimus to let the two of us stay behind and watch the cylinder.

Well, once the others were gone, the Decepticons made their move and, somehow, they had three of the drones gliding on the ice toward the cylinder. Before Pitch and I could even get a shot off at the three, our location was bombarded by shots from across the lake. That fragging medic and the four other drones, along with that little flier of Soundwave's, were keeping us pinned down.

However, I saw a chance to make a break for the other side of the lake and I took it. If I could shoot from the other side, then I could take out those three drones and maybe that medic. That would make my solar. That fragger, Zarron, had screwed up our plan to mess with the human living at base by joining in on the training sessions. Made my energon churn. I didn't like my plans interfered with. Vox would have been a risk and I had thought I got rid of him.

But, the Decepticons hadn't done their job right. Instead of killing the gullible idiot, they let him live and join their ranks. He was still a risk to me. Right now I was actually on a job. It wasn't an easy job but, if I could pull it off, then I would have enough to retire ten times over…

…of course, that was if I ever retired. I enjoyed the profits so much!

Now, I was going to help tear these Decepticons to shreds and there would be no backlash for this It was a part of the fight and I was sure that there was somebot who would think that I was going overboard, but none of those kinds of bots were here. Pitch was my only backup and I was actually working on a job for him. He had asked me, when we had met up on Cybertron, to take care of an issue he was having and was going to pay me very well for my services. I was not going to fail in that.

The sound of a jet in the air caused me to flinch to a stop. What was that? The only Decepticons that were here that could fly were drones but that had sounded like a more powerful engine than they had access to. A lot more powerful. Maybe human's flying overhead? Disgusting creatures really. I was still upset that we had to tolerate the ones at base. Maybe I could get away with shooting this one down? There was enough blaster fire coming from the Decepticons that I could get away with it.

So, I transformed my right servo into a blaster and fired to hit the jet. I couldn't see the jet itself but I saw its shadow and used that to take the shot. Once it was gone, I moved to hit Knockout's group. The three drones who had the cylinder were halfway back to the other Decepticons. If I could move at the pace I was before, I could get over there to slaughter them all. Bet I could make some credits off the red medic. With the idea of a bonus for this job, I went to move again.

Survival instincts had me darting backward, causing me to fall after a few paces, as a giant object landed in front of me. What the frag was that?! The jet I hit shouldn't have crashed in front of me! That was too steep a fall! As the snow mist dissipated, I glanced up at the object in front of me and felt my optics widen as fiery red optics bore down at me. No! It couldn't be! He was supposed to be offline by now! Pitch had shot the side of his helm! I had to be imagining things!

" _I zhink zhat zhe two-vheeler needs to go…BOOM!"_ A mad string of cackling that came straight from the Pit pierced my spark with terror before I stood up and bolted back to Pitch. The small amount of credits I might get from Knockout's helm was not worth tangling with the psychotic triple-changer Blitzwing!

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"I can't believe that worked." Rumble spoke from next to me. I honestly didn't care about the believability of the success of the backup plan. I was just relieved that it had worked. Flamewar had almost blown up my backup plan like she had the original. Slagging glitch from the Pit.

"Soundwave sent me a message to pick you up."

I jumped and turned away from the dark monitor, that had been previously showing the battlefield, to see Skyquake walking in toward the three of us.

Once he reached us, the giant jet mech lowered his servo to us and we jumped on before he picked us up again. I hadn't had Skyquake go to the battle for two reasons. The first reason, the reason that I had to explain to Lord Megatron, was that he was a bulky flier and, while that was good, we would need strong fighters on reserve just in case the Autobots were able to hold us back from getting the cylinder and we had to switch out troops due to the cold.

The other, and more personal, reason that I didn't have Skyquake go to the battle was because I was worried about him. With the help of Thundercracker and Skywarp, he had beaten the odds and survived passed his episode debut. Since they, I had gotten to know the mech better and he had even started to train me. Me! And this was before all of this test passing and actually becoming a member of the Decepticons. Both he and Starscream had taken a lot of time to train me to fight against beings my own size. Now, I wanted to repay the favor and make sure that he didn't die. While he would have to be placed out in battle sometimes, I wanted to make sure they were under the best of circumstances possible.

"Hey Lizzie," I glanced at Frenzy and noticed that all three of them were staring at me. "are you okay?"

Smiling, I nodded before saying, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind."

"But you always have something on your mind. You just seemed off." Rumble added his two credits.

Well, I had better make sure to calm them down. If they thought that something was wrong with me, word would get to Lord Megatron and I was not going to go back on the suspicious list this soon after getting off it! "Trust me bots I'm fine. A strategist is supposed to be always thinking about things. I guess the relief that came with passing this test caused me to get lost in my thoughts. Sorry for worrying you all."

Thankfully, they seemed to relax before Skyquake spoke. "That is good. Of course, you aren't just going to be hanging out with the processors of this operation. Lord Megatron has already approved of you continuing your combat training with us and Soundwave gave clearance for the twins to join us if they want."

"Yes!" I exclaimed excitedly. While I was going to be a strategist, which meant working with Shockwave, Soundwave, and Vox was going to be a very regular occurrence, I had been worried that I wouldn't be able to see much of the other bots. Rumble and Frenzy were the exception because they were attached to Soundwave…sometimes literally. I would always be able to spend time with the two of them and Laserbeak. But, bots like Skyquake, Blitzwing, Knockout, Hook, and Breakdown…well, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to see them that much. Plus, I liked the training with Skyquake and Starscream. Maybe we could have…

"Oh, and before I forget," Skyquake started as he continued to move. "Blitzwing and Breakdown have asked to join in on our training, though I'm pretty sure that Blitzwing is doing it to make it easier to fight with himselves. Either way though, they wanted me to let you know as long as today went well."

That was going to be amazing! Now not only was I going to be getting training from Skyquake and Starscream, but Breakdown and Blitz…

…did he just say him _selves_?

My mind was still trying to attach onto that fact as Skyquake entered the bridge, passing a smiling Frost, Florian, and Flare. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see the twins smirking but I couldn't find it in myself to even try and respond. How could he argue with him _selves_? That…That was…

"And here is the being of the solar." I jumped out of my thoughts and paid attention as Lord Megatron spoke to me. Being addressed by him was something you did not take lightly. "Through the challenges that were presented her this solar, Lizzie Xantara Val was able to prevail and her plan allowed the Decepticons to retrieve the data cylinder that Shockwave, Hook, and Knockout are currently downloading and decoding." He then paused. "Since she was able to accomplish this, Lizzie has gained full rights and admittance into the Decepticon ranks. She will report to Shockwave or Soundwave for her solar duties and they will be her superiors." He then looked directly at me. "Lizzie, you will have the next two solars off to adjust to your new position on the Nemesis. During that time, you are expected to have our insignia placed on your body that will ensure that it will not be easily removed."

Huh…I was wondering where those three were. Thankfully, for me, I already knew how I was going to take care of the problem that Lord Megatron brought up. I just had to find 51-D and 04-N, Sid and Dan respectively tomorrow morning. Since Megatron had made the suggestion of resting, I now found myself really tired. However, before I did that, I had to thank Lord Megatron. "My Lord, thank you…for everything."

He simply raised an optic ridge at that in return before Soundwave walked forward and, taking Rumble, Frenzy, and I from Skyquake, moved us back where we just were before. Felt kinda roundabout-ish but I wasn't going to complain. I had earned my place on the Nemesis enough to say that I had to screw up pretty majorly to be worried about being killed by Lord Megatron and most of the others…Of course I was still going to be keeping an eye on Astro…

Letting out a yawn, I laid down against Soundwave's servo as he entered his room. I just wanted to fall asleep now. Thankfully, Soundwave placed the twins next to the bed and me next to my clothes drawer. Had to get my pajamas on and then I would be ready for bed. So, I picked out a purple pair of pajamas before I went behind the screen and changed. Once I was changed, I walked out and crawled in-between the twins. Once I was comfy under the covers, the twins moved closer to me.

"Lizzie, I'm glad you're still here." Rumble…I think…muttered. I was so tired that I could barely tell that it was his voice.

"Me too Lizzie. I don't want to lose our newest sister." Frenzy…yeah I was sure that it was him, said as well.

Letting a small smile slip on my face, I nuzzled my head into the pillow and nodded sleepily. "I'm glad…I get to keep you two…as my…" A yawn then escaped my lips before I snuggled closer to my pillow. "as my brothers."

The warm embrace of sleep then welcomed me.

 **Shockwave's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"What progress has been made on the cylinder?" Lord Megatron asked me. Hook and Knockout had just left about five clicks ago and I was cleaning up the tools that we had pulled out. The retrieval of the data from the cylinder hadn't been as difficult as I had thought. But, when we had tried to start the decoding process, we kept hitting bundles of useless information that took us cycles to straighten out. It was quite bothersome.

Motioning to the monitor in front of me, I answered my Lord. "The data from the cylinder has been successfully placed onto a drive for our decoding purposes. However, there are many packets of data that seem to have been placed in the program to be decoys. It will take us some time to sort everything out for their usefulness." I didn't like giving such a small report to Lord Megatron but that was all we had been able to accomplish.

Lord Megatron simply nodded. "Very well. From what you have found, will this help any of our current projects?"

Thankfully, I could answer my Lord positively. "Yes, my Lord. From the small amount of data that we have been able to retrieve from the devise, it seems like this is exactly the data we needed to complete our soliform project." Now, it was just a matter of retrieving the data, translating it, and applying it to the project. Once the data from the cylinder was imputed, then we would be able to test the soliform project.

At that, Lord Megatron nodded and took a few paces before speaking again. "Shockwave, what of our other project? The one for our newest member?"

Lord Megatron had approached me the previous night cycle and requested that I start work on a project that would be beneficial for Lizzie's continued working on the Nemesis. I had been surprised that he had requested that I start work on that project before we were even sure Lizzie was going to pass her test. However, I had obeyed Lord Megatron's order and started work on that special project.

"Scan data of Lizzie has allowed me to make progress on the project. Her scans show a reasonable resemblance to our own structure and it should not be difficult to synthesize the appropriate compounds to complete the project. My estimations show that the project shall be completed for application in three solars." I responded to my Lord's question. It would be strange working with the human as an assistant, but I knew that this project I was working on would assist in making it easier for her to work with us and us to work with her.

"Very good, Shockwave." Lord Megatron spoke as he went to walk out of the lab. After he opened the door, he turned to me before saying, "Make sure to get some recharge tonight. These next few cycles are going to keep all of us busy."

I stared after my Lord as he left. That was…strange. I would not question my Lord, but it seemed like the femme, Lizzie, was slightly influencing Lord Megatron. And, logically, it seemed to be for the better. Lord Megatron was taking a broader look at our stance in the war and was realizing that his troops needed to be at their top performance and, to achieve that state, they needed recharge.

Speaking of recharge, I glanced at my internal clock and saw that there was about fifteen clicks until the start of the new solar. I would spend that time finishing up some research for that final project Lord Megatron and I spoke on before I would turn in for recharge. I would start early tomorrow on the other projects.

Pulling up the schematics that I was using, I dove into Project Scrapmetal.

* * *

 **Paul: *taps Authoress' shoulder* Excuse me Authoress, but when are we going to check in on my situation here? I haven't seen Lizzie yet and you haven't talked to me since last chapter.**

 **Authoress: *shakes head* Don't worry Paul, you get some attention next chapter. it will be very developing for your predicament.**

 **Paul: *pauses* *frowns* I hate it when you talk like that. I can't tell if that is going to be good for me or bad for me.**

 **Authoress: *smirks* Exactly.**

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter! Lizzie is going to live!...For now. She has earned her place in the Decepticons but there are still trials that will arise to stop her. Astrotrain being one of them and maybe more to come. Nobot new...I don't have any more new bots coming in until season 2 but Lizzie will be facing some new challenges, both physical and mental. Also, what is this Project Scrapmetal? Is there a hint as to what it might be? Maybe, but I can't say for sure. What I can say is that Lizzie is going to have to stay on her toes to keep moving.**

 **Then we have Paul. I know he wasn't talked about much this chapter, but we will be getting back to him. He needs to figure out what is going on and he hasn't been in contact with Lizzie since Deus Ex Machnia. That has to be pressuring him. Next chapter will be focusing a bit on him (though we will have some Lizzie moments) and you can bet that Paul is going to be having an adventure.**

 **Well, that's all for that stuff. Here are the names of the next chapters.**

 **Chapter 15: Unfortunate Side Effects**

 **Chapter 16: Where True Evil Multiplies**

 **Chapter 17:...? (find out next time!)**

 **Okay, so that is all for now. Please leave a review, even to say hi. Until we meet again though, TTYL! *listening to Meatloaf***


	16. Unfortunate Side Effects

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Paul: Why is it that whenever I get to come out for a talk, the chapter has to look ominous?**

 **Authoress: I think it is just your bad luck. I gave enough to Lizzie in the past and this is your turn.**

 **Paul: *crosses arms* I don't like it.**

 **Authoress: I didn't ask you.**

* * *

Chapter 15: Unfortunate Side Effects

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I still couldn't get over everything that has happened over the past forty-eight hours. I had been just as surprised as the Autobots had been when the signal had appeared on Rudulf Island. There wasn't supposed to be anything there. However, it was there. There was some unforeseen element that I wasn't privy to and, until this morning, I knew that getting in contact with Lizzie was the only way that I was going to be getting those answers. Then, the Autobots had arrived on Rudulf Island and everything seemed to fall into the smelting pit.

First and foremost, the Decepticons had used the battlefield like they had intimate knowledge of Earth's biospheres and how to circumnavigate it. I was sure that even the Autobots did not have that kind of knowledge about Earth. It had given the Decepticons a pede up in the battle that made me sure that they were going to retrieve the relic, which was a data cylinder, without any issues.

Then, Flamewar had broken through their defensive line and confronted Knockout, who had by then retrieved the cylinder from the ice wall it had been in. The two of them fought over the cylinder until both made a move that threw the cylinder onto the frozen lake and caused said cylinder to get stuck in it. The ice was too thin for prolonged exposure in one spot for a Cybertronian. Us humans couldn't grab it because it would be too heavy for us.

So, I thought that had brought the two sides to a stand-still. Honestly, it was a relief. I didn't know what sort of information the cylinder was holding and that, if it got into Decepticon servos, could hold serious consequences for the Autobots. While I normally didn't hold favor with one side of my children over the other, I could not allow the Decepticons to gain any sort off advantage on the Autobots here on Earth. More than just the fate of my children was at stake for this and the humans were innocent of this conflict.

However, that impasse that I had been so relieved to see didn't last longer than five clicks.

By some strange coincidence, a second signal had been activated three miles away from the cylinder and the Decepticons did not waste a click in mobilizing their forces, leaving Knockout and a group of drones behind with the cylinder, to go after the new relic. With that sort of reaction from the Decepticons, Optimus pulled all the troops out of the area with the cylinder, except for Flamewar and Pitch on their request, before making a pit-stop at base and grabbing new troops before bridging to the new location.

However, it seemed like that was exactly what the Decepticons wanted us to do. As soon as our troops had arrived at the second set of coordinates, a set of three drones that were at the cylinder location started to skate across the ice. I didn't think that the drones would make that much of a difference in the battle, but they had proven differently. Those three drones had been able to retrieve the cylinder and make it back to the shore safely.

Flamewar had again been able to break through the barrage that Knockout and the rest of the drones had been left at the cylinder were laying down on Flamewar's and Pitch's location. I had to say that the femme was almost an expert at squeezing through the enemy lines. There were a couple of times where her visual had been cut by interference but most of the time was there and that was important. She had made her way through the lines and, right when she was close to Knockout's position, something had stopped her that had caused my spark to stop.

Blitzwing. He was here on Earth and that put the Autobots at a clear disadvantage. Taking out the unpredictability of Blitzwing due to his insanity, the Decepticons now had two triple changers that were here on Earth while the Autobots only had Springer. We would have to up our effectiveness in battle to stay in the fight for Earth.

The Decepticons had retrieved the cylinder while we had retrieved the capsule that was at the second set of coordinates. The Autobots had waited until we had returned to base to open the capsule and Blaster had done the honors and opened it, since he had been the one to retrieve it. However, what none of us were expecting was for neon pink paint to come spraying out and cover Blaster. Once the paint had stopped spraying, having gotten onto a few bots but mainly Blaster, we had all looked inside and I had been shocked that the Decepticon insignia had been at the bottom.

We had been duped and now the Decepticons had the cylinder and the information that was inside of it. I had needed to contact Lizzie and figure out what the frag was going on, so we could be prepared. She would tell me what was in the cylinder as soon as she knew, and I just hoped beyond all hope that there were no more Decepticons on Earth right now. I wasn't sure that I could keep my sanity if more appeared. I needed the Autobots to come out on top and reclaim Cybertron. The Decepticons could _not_ have Cybertron.

But, events this morning after I had gone to sleep had changed everything.

"Hey Paul," I jumped out of my thoughts, and slightly physically, as Miko addressed me. So, I turned and saw that she was standing with her guitar in hand. "since you aren't training with the bots, and Raf and Jack are busy in Jasper, can you come with me to scope out a canyon that has good acoustics? I want to find one that Bulk can take me to later to practice in."

Jack had work all day today and, since he was still under house arrest from his mom, he would not be at base today. Raf had to study to get ready for a test that he had in a class that he did not have with Miko. So, that left Miko and I as the only two humans here. While I wasn't exactly excited to go climbing over cliffs, since I had just had a hard training session with Sentinel, Pitch, Flamewar, and Zarron yesterday, I knew that, due to the events of yesterday, I had to talk with Miko alone…and this might be the best and only chance I might get for a while.

So, I nodded and stood. "Sure. It might do me some good to get out and relax for a bit." I then glanced around and saw that Ironhide was the only one here in the room. Everybot else was either training, out on patrol, or just out for a drive. So, before any other bots came in and made this difficult, I moved to the railing and motioned to Ironhide. "Could you open up a bridge for Miko and me? Somewhere in a canyon structure would be preferable."

Ironhide looked between the two of us with suspicion. "I don't know. I've heard enough about you two getting in trouble with bots with you. I'm not sure that Bulk and Cliff would be happy if I let the two of you out of here without a bot with the both of you. Since I have to stay on bridge duty, and no bot else is available right now, that doesn't look like it's happening anytime soon."

Well looked like I had to work some of my influence on, "Come on 'Hide." Miko started with her hands on her hips. "We've been living here on Earth our entire lives." Speak for yourself Miko. But, I stayed quiet as she continued to argue. "We know how to take care of ourselves in the desert. Plus, if the big bad 'Cons show up, we know to call all of you to save our bacons." She then motioned to the bridge. "So…please?"

Ironhide looked between the two of us for a click and, while he did, I looked at Miko and felt a lot better about the decision that I was making. While this wasn't my original plan when coming back to this dimension with Lizzie, it was going to work.

That was made even more positive by Ironhide letting out a sigh. "Fine. Just don't stay out too long. I'll bridge you two there and you will have two cycles…hours, to do whatever it is that you want. Then, you had better call back here for a pickup." He then turned and opened the bridge.

Well, I wasn't going to wait a click longer than I had to, so I moved down the stairs with Miko and walked next to her as we made our way into the bridge. Even though we were not on the original timeline anymore, I tried to at least keep track of time using the episodes…so I could brace myself in case something happened.

As we walked through the bridge, I tried to line up recent events with where we would be right now. We were past Speed Metal and, unless I was mistaken, yesterday covered the episodes where Megatron had originally woke up. So…that would lead us to…

…Oh slag. "Miko we need to," I started while grabbing her arm to move us back through the bridge to base.

But, before I could move us, the bridge suddenly flashed yellow and started to fluctuate. This wasn't good! Before I could see anything else, I suddenly felt a pressure against my body that knocked me out.

I wasn't sure how long I was out, but when I woke up I was sure about one thing; Miko and I had just entered the shadow zone. The area around me caused me to flashback to this morning…when everything fell apart.

Flashback

 _I glanced around excitedly when I saw that I was in the dreamscape. This meant that there was a channel open for me to talk with Lizzie. I needed to get some information out of her about what the frag happened on Rudulf Island. Blitzwing was her favorite character but, last time we talked, she didn't mention that he was here on Earth. Did he arrive after our call or was that the news that she had been excited to tell me about before we got cut off last time?_

 _Plus, I was worried about her condition. Based off my own current experiences with soliform training, I was worried that the Decepticons were using this as an opportunity to beat up on the human. Since they couldn't do so without exposing themselves while they were planetside, Lizzie could be the perfect solution to that._

 _After a few seconds, Lizzie suddenly appeared in the dreamscape. When she did, though, I stared at her in worry. Her hair, which I remembered was long golden brown, was now a very short golden brown. It looked more like a human male haircut and it exposed her neck. That neck was another point of worry for me when she popped in. There was a large bandage covering the left side of her neck. Things must be worse for her in the Decepticons than she was letting on._

" _Lizzie, what happened? Did the Decepticons do that?"_ _I started asking her_

 _She seemed nervous at that. "Paul…nothing is wrong…"_

 _I didn't believe her. There she was, hair butchered and a large bandage over her neck and_ _nothing was wrong_ _? She was covering up for them. I should have seen it coming when I first found out that she was on the Nemesis. Back in her world, she was a Decepticon fan. True, she could look at the war with the most neutral observation that I had found in any of the humans that I had been looking at, but she was their fan at heart. She probably didn't want to believe that they were capable of this kind of evil. Lizzie was in denial and now I had to set her straight. "Lizzie, look what they have done to you! You are a ragdoll for them to practice with their soliforms!"_

" _Paul…" Lizzie tried to interrupt._

 _No! I couldn't allow her clouded judgement of the Decepticons to stop me from showing her the truth about them! I bet that injury wasn't even being healed correctly as a test and Lizzie was just going right along with it, like she had Stockholm syndrome. Maybe that was it! "No Lizzie! They cut your hair, probably for more tests, and you have an injury to your neck that is who knows how bad! Open your eyes!"_

" _You don't…" Lizzie again tried to interrupt with an earnest look in her eyes._

 _Oh, but I wasn't having it. "What Lizzie? I don't understand? The Decepticons are not the heroes in this dimension Lizzie! They never are! They are the ones who ravaged Cybertron of its resources and caused the world to go dark!"_

" _Primus shut up!"_

 _I flinched, and my eyes widened in shock when Lizzie yelled at me like that, anger in her eyes. "Lizzie…" I tried to start to calm her. But, I must have said something to push her too far._

" _No Paul! You had your chance to talk so now you are going to shut up and listen to what I have to say! Yes, the Decepticons cut my hair and did this to my neck, but I_ _asked_ _them to! Believe it or not, I actually asked them to do this for me! Things have changed here Paul, and you do not understand! I have not been tested on! They wouldn't do that without my permission Paul! The Autobots may act like that, I can't say for sure because I don't have the facts, but the Decepticons would not do that to me now!"_

 _I had to get her calmed down. She was speaking nonsense. Why would she let the Decepticons do this to her? She had to be so used to saying that line that it came naturally. Plus, since she was angry, it had to be coming out even more naturally. "Please Lizzie just think,"_

" _Just think?" She snapped at me. "Oh Paul, I've been thinking for so long. You blame the Decepticons for ravaging Cybertron but, in reality, the process of Cybertron's ravaging started back during the Golden Age of Cybertron, with the nobility and council that your Autobots fought for and protected. Protected while they greedily helped themselves while the future Decepticons were starving, struggling in the streets just to survive! The Decepticons didn't ravage Cybertron! They just claimed energon in the beginning of the fighting to help their starved and desperate members get the energy that they needed to live!"_

" _Lizzie stop please," I almost begged her. I knew that I opened this can of trouble but we needed to get to other topics before we lost this connection. There was information that I_ _needed_ _to know!_

" _No Paul! You brought this upon yourself!" Lizzie yelled at me. She was crying and I could tell that she was angry and upset by this. "As for your claim that the Decepticons caused the world of Cybertron to go dark, I can't argue that. Yes, Lord Megatron introduced dark energon into the planet's core. But, by that point, he had been driven to desperation by enemies who claimed to be fighting for peace and equality, all the while showing that they were just trying to bring back a dark and corrupt system like what happened before! It probably broke him! I would have broke under the same pressure!"_

 _Wait…did she just call Megatron what I think she did. "Lizzie…you just called Megatron…"_

 _Her eyes snapped to me with a hard focus before she nodded. "Yes Paul, you heard right and I did not slip. Lord Megatron is what I called him." I knew it! She was suffering from a form of Stockholm syndrome! Lizzie would never address someone as if they were of a higher standing than her and calling Megatron 'Lord' is something that she would not do. "You want to know why I would allow the Decepticons to do something to my neck that would cause this bandage to have to be placed there? Do you want to know why I had them cut my hair? Because I see now that you will not like the answer."_

" _Lizzie, what are you talking about?" I was worried for her. She seemed to be driven off the edge of her sanity and there seemed to be nothing I could do to help._

 _She reached to the bandage with her right hand and started to pull while answering me. "What I am talking about is this…Primus." My eyes went wide and my heart seemed to stop as I stared at the scene now before me. There, on Lizzie's neck, was a fresh tattoo. And it was not just any tattoo. "I am now a fully-fledged member of the Decepticons Paul and I will do anything and everything in my power to serve Lord Megatron and the cause the he started against the corruption on Cybertron so long ago."_

 _I couldn't…Lizzie couldn't mean this. She couldn't! I had brought her here to help me bring peace to this dimension…to bring both sides together. Not to choose to help one side claim victory! "Lizzie you can't! I brought you here to bring peace! Not choose a side and fight against the Autobots. The allies of the humans! Have you,"_

" _Primus you need to open your eyes!" Lizzie interrupted me. "Yes, you are responsible for starting my journey here. But, things haven't gone to your plan since the moment you started my journey here. Fate brought me to the Nemesis instead and I have had my eyes opened to what needs to be done. The Decepticons are not the evil poison you seem to think infected me with their darkness just as they Autobots aren't the bright stars that you seem to think they are. They are high-beams that have blinded you!" She then seemed to take a breath and calm down. The neutral look that she stared back at me with was one that I would not be forgetting. "Primus, you need to use one of the humans with the Autobots if you plan on trying to keep any hope of your plans alive. If you would take one more bit of advice from me, as repayment for bringing me to this dimension?"_

 _While I didn't want to, I knew that now was not the time to argue with her. I would wait until the next time we could be I one of these. Surely by then she would see sense. But, for now, it would be best to get whatever 'information' it was that Lizzie was going to impart on me. "What is it?"_

" _Out of the humans, I would choose Miko to help you with your goals. She is the most open-minded of the humans that you will encounter from the show. She will take all of the information you give her in stride." Lizzie then started to disappear before my eyes. "Goodbye…Paul."_

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"Ow. Stop it." I muttered to Frenzy as we walked toward the bridge through the vents. I had been awake for about seven hours now…having gotten up at three this morning due to the two bots next to me kicking me in their recharge and had decided to track down Sid and Dan to take care of those things I would need to get my insignia and make sure that it could be seen.

Frenzy was currently poking at the result of five hours of pain that was still tender but completely worth it.

"It's just weird that we can see your neck. You look weird with short hair." Frenzy shot back at my complaining.

Rolling my eyes playfully, I looked ahead as we continued to walk. The three of us were planning on using this solar that I had off to watch Soundwave and Vox work on their projects for about two cycles before we went to the training room to meet up with Blitzwing and Skyquake for soliform training. I wanted to go to see what Shockwave and the medics were working on, but Soundwave hinted rather strongly that I wasn't allowed to be in the room with Shockwave yet due to him working on a special project. I wasn't sure what kind of project it was going to be, but I would listen for now. Hopefully, they would share what it was when they were done.

Before I could say anything in response to Frenzy's comment on Sid's handiwork with my hair, we arrived at the opening of the vent into the bridge. So, I stayed quiet as the twins opened it and the three of us sat on the edge, the twins sandwiching me in. "Hey boss, mind if we watch?" Rumble asked Soundwave, who was standing next to a monitor with Vox.

Soundwave didn't even have to glance up at us as he answered. " _Keep out of danger."_

"No kidding." Vox added. "I don't want my helm on the line again." Wow. Get caught in the middle of a malfunctioning ground bridge _once_ and it is brought up like it happens all the time.

Well, they weren't doing much so the three of us fell silent. Unfortunately, I didn't like silence. It allowed my mind to wander and, worse off, my mind wandered to the events of this morning. It still hurt me that I had to do that but there wasn't a choice anymore. Events had moved far past what Paul had probably intended and I didn't foresee me being of anymore help to the humanized god. I had to do what I did to ensure that everything went alright. With my new status in this world, I knew that the events of this morning's nap had to transpire…

…I just wished it would have gone smoother.

The sound of the bridge door opening thankfully drew me out of my thoughts and I smiled when I saw Thundercracker and Skyquake come in. They had patrol now, from what I remembered from the schedule that was on Soundwave's monitor this morning, but I was hoping that they could help me start some weapon's training later tonight. While I enjoyed the fighting training that I got with them and the others during the day, and what I would be getting after this, I knew that using weapons was a natural step for me now that I was a Decepticon. Since Soundwave and Vox were on shift all solar, then they were the first big bots that I could ask. Of course, Rumble and Frenzy would probably be with me.

"Soundwave, can you open the bridge?" Thundercracker started. "Lord Megatron wants us to check out a canyon structure in Nevada for any energon signals. Plus, he believed that it would be good flight exercising for us. Battle here on Earth might involve us flying through complicated and narrow passages and the canyons around Nevada would be good practice for that."

Well, that made sense. Do some energon scouting while getting some flight training in. That would help train the fliers on the Decepticon side how to maneuver some of the tighter aerial spaces that could be found on Earth. Canyons especially could be a danger to fliers. My mind flashed to the canyon where Skyquake woke up in and the canyon, in the show, where his offline zombie corpse came back to life in the shadow zone and…

…With that thought, my rough mental timeline that I was keeping aligned with what today might be and I immediately felt panic. Unless I was mistaken, then this was the day of the shadow zone episode. Since Starscream wasn't a mean psychotic, then the Decepticons probably weren't going to be confronting the Autobots this solar! Thundercracker and Skyquake were in trouble!

I glanced up in a panic to stop the two but, as soon as I looked up, the ground bridge flashed a strange yellow color and started to fluctuate. What the frag was going on? "The ground bridge is malfunctioning!" Vox yelled as he ran to the controls. "We have to get the two of them out of there!" He then started to type on the controls. But, before he could get too far, the vortex suddenly flashed, and the bridge shut down.

The five of us remaining seemed to stare at the darkened bridge for a few minutes before Soundwave was the first to move, running to a monitor next to the bridge and typing things in. From the little cybertronian that I had been able to pick up so far, Soundwave was searching for Thundercracker's and Skyquake's signals. But, nothing was coming up. Of course, since I was now almost sure that this was the shadow zone episode, then I knew that they wouldn't be able to find the signals. I just had to wait for an opening to suggest that they try the private message system.

While I wasn't sure that it would work, I had a theory that the private message system would be able to traverse the dimensional difference between our zone and the shadow zone. From the research I had done in my dimension, I had built up the case that said that the private message system was like a texting system that could only be seen to the bot that was sending and receiving the message.

The door opening caused all of us but Soundwave to turn and I saw that Starscream and Skywarp were standing there with panicked looks on their faceplates. "Would somebot tell me why the frag Thundercracker is panicking?" Starscream asked frantically. I had a feeling that he was being so frantic because of the trine bond he shared with Skywarp and Thundercracker.

"The ground bridge malfunctioned and we can't find their signals." Frenzy answered Starscream.

That seemed, somehow, to calm Starscream down slightly. "He is at least online. I can still feel him panicking in my spark." He then shifted to a second-in-command mode before speaking. "We must find the two of them. Any loss to our numbers would hurt our efforts here on Earth." He then moved to the monitor next to Soundwave and started to type away.

"We can try to focus our search parameters on their specific spark signatures." Vox commented as he returned to his own monitor. "It'll take some time to focus the scanners that precisely, but it seems like our best option."

Still no opening for me to make my suggestion about the private message systems. So, I had to stay quiet and watch, the twins next to me, as Starscream, Soundwave, and Vox searched for the two bots. Hopefully, they could find Skyquake and Thundercracker quickly. I didn't know what caused the bridge to malfunction and that made me nervous about what the future was going to hold.

"Hey Lizzie," Frenzy said with a nudge to my side, "they are going to find them. They did find us after all."

I smiled at his effort and nodded. "Yeah…I know. Those three are some of the best we have." I knew that this was one of the most effective search groups that I could ask for in this situation. Hopefully they pulled through.

 **Miko's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

This…was…awesome!

I had just wanted to go with Paul to the canyons to have some fun with my acoustics. But, instead, we were on an adventure! The ground bridge had gone all yellow and then we were flung through. From the looks of the area around us, this place was still Earth. But, everything looked all dark and shadowy. I wasn't complaining but I wondered where we were.

A groan from behind me caused me to look and see that Paul was waking up. Since he did come here with me, I knew it wouldn't be smart to leave him alone. So, I ran up to him and saw that he was awake and looking around. "Hey Paul, are you alright?"

He nodded and sat up before he answered me. "Yeah. Just feel like I got hit with a train." He then stood up and glanced around some more. "How long was I out?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. I woke up about five minutes ago and you were out cold. Do you know where we are?" I turned to him and saw that he was trying to call someone on his phone.

After a minute, he sighed and put his phone away. "Since I can't get I touch with anyone, then I have a feeling that we are in some sort of shadow zone. The theory around them says that we won't be able to call out for help or even touch anyone that is not in the shadow zone."

… "Cool!" I exclaimed while starting to walk forward, "I bet I could get a lot of practice in and it wouldn't bother anyone!" I then took my guitar off my back and made a move to walk to one of the canyons. But, I stopped when Paul grabbed my arm. "What's up Paul?" I asked him confused.

He glanced around, and I saw that his eyes settled on a cave before saying, "I need to talk with you about something. It was the reason that I decided to come with you in the first place. But, we need to be somewhere were we can't be overheard."

Well…that was weird. He just said that we were in a shadow zone so that meant that no one who wasn't in the shadow zone could hear us. But, Paul looked really worried about whatever this was, and I knew that he was worried about that employee of his, Lizzie, since she was still with the 'Cons. "Sure, but you better tell me why you are acting all crazy."

He nodded and so I followed him into the cave. Once we were inside, which was strangely well lit for a cave, Paul turned to me. "Miko, I need you to swear on everything that you hold dear that you will not tell anyone…and that includes any of the bots, what I am about to tell you. It could jeopardize everything that Lizzie and I were hoping to accomplish."

What the hell was he talking about? He was talking like he knew about the Autobots before he saw them that day with Raf. That was crazy though. He was human just like us and, from how Fowler had reacted to him when he discovered us, the government didn't know about him either. Paul was talking crazy. But, he seemed serious and I wanted to know. Even though it meant keeping a secret from Bulk, I wanted to know what Paul was holding back. "I swear that I won't go blabbing about whatever you want to say to anyone without your permission."

Paul stared at me for a second before he nodded. "Very well then. I think the best way to get this started is to tell you that I am not human."

…huh? "What? How can you not be human? You eat, and sleep, and bleed." I couldn't believe that Paul wasn't human.

But, Paul shook his head at my outburst in such a serious way that I now wasn't so sure that he wasn't human. "Miko, I'm not human. This body is a soliform. You know what they are right?"

"Yeah," I answered him immediately. "the bots use them when they have to drive around in public and we aren't available. But, their soliforms can't eat and bleed." They could fake sleep so I couldn't say that they couldn't do that. But all the other stuff they can't do.

Paul, though, didn't seem to be deterred by my disbelief. "Miko, I'm not the normal soliform. I'm sure you've heard my name passed between the bots at least once…and I'm talking about my actual name. In my true form, I am Primus."

Wait…Primus. That was the name of their god! Bulk had told me the myths that surrounded the existence of Primus. Well, this was a new turn…and it was awesome! "Cool! You mean that you're a god? Does that mean that you can just zap a bot and make them do what you want?"

Paul…Primus, shook his head at that. "No Miko. While I am fully Primus, I am not the entirety of Primus himself. I wouldn't have the power to do that. Even if I was in my full being though, I wouldn't do that to them. The bots, like humans, have a free will and I should not intervene with that as their god."

Wait…if he wasn't going to interfere, then why was he here now? It didn't make sense that he would be here just to watch. "Then what are you doing here with the bots, and what does Lizzie have to do with this? Is she some sort of Cybertronian angel? Did she come with you to help you with your mission?"

Paul held up a hand to stop my questions. "Miko, the reason that I am even telling you this now is because Lizzie isn't here. No, Lizzie is not Cybertronian. But, she is a human that comes from another world…a world where all of this is just a television show." I wanted to ask a question about that but he put up a hand to stop me. "I can explain that later. But, I had gone to her world to find someone who could help me restore order here. While I couldn't make changes myself, my original plan was to bring someone from a world where we didn't exist in anything except media, Lizzie's world for example, and bring them here to help me make the changes needed to give Cybertron peace without hurting Earth."

"Then why is Lizzie with the Decepticons?" I asked him. It didn't make sense to have Lizzie with the 'Cons if he needed her help to make changes.

"I didn't want her to be there. When I sent her here ahead of me, some outside force interfered with her transportation and, until the night after the space bridge incident, I had no idea where she was. Then, I was able to connect with her through her dreams and found out that she was on the Nemesis." He answered me.

Well, that made sense. Also, explained why Paul was worried about her. But, that also opened another question for me. "Wait, if you have had contact with her, then why are you telling me everything?" If he had Lizzie to help him, even through dreams, then he shouldn't need my help.

Paul looked nervous for a second, which looked weird on a god, before he spoke. "Well, as I told you, she got in contact with me after the space bridge incident way back when. However, she has been in contact with me two other times after that. One was the night after the mess with the energon harvester. She looked a little rough, but she seemed alright. She was able to tell me some things that had developed on the ship but was worried about something. Then, she contacted me this morning."

"She contacted you this morning? Did she say much about that psycho bot that Flamewar ran from?" I asked. That bot seemed to have a screw loose and the Autobots weren't talking about him much. It was almost like they were scared of him. Really scared of him.

But, Paul shook his head and I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like what I was about to hear. "No. This morning, we didn't talk long. But, Lizzie made it clear to me that she was not going to be contacting me anymore and that she was not going to be passing along any more information. I have a feeling that she is worried that she might be discovered as being more than what she seems."

"Oh, so like she might sleeptalk and they could hear her?" I asked him.

He looked at me in surprise. "I didn't think of it like that but that could be a reason why. She didn't explain much but she did tell me to tell you everything. It was the last thing she told me before she had to disconnect us." He looked hurt at that.

But I was surprised that she had singled me out. Usually, people looked to Jack as some leader, though I didn't get why, or Raf since he was the smart one. But, most people saw me as the crazy wild one out of our group. I was the trouble-maker. The adults said it all the time. But, I didn't care. However, it was strange to hear that I was picked over Raf and Jack for something like this. "Why me?"

I was surprised when Paul let out a laugh before he calmed down. "Sorry. It's just strange to hear you ask that. Lizzie, back in her dimension where we are all fake, found you as one of her favorite characters, human and Autobots. You don't conform to what's around you, you make your own decisions and stay firm with what you believe in while, at the same time, being open to new ideas. Remember that you were the one who was excited to be on the Nemesis. You accepted it as a part of your life, all the craziness with the Autobots, and Lizzie really loved that about you."

It was kinda weird hearing that someone who I didn't really know at all was impressed by me. But, at the same time, it was a big compliment. From where Lizzie was from, we were all fake. Comparing me to, not only humans but, bots as well and saying that I was one of her favorites really hit a chord. She believed that I was one of the better characters in whatever 'show' was based around us. "So, I'm her favorite human?"

Paul seemed to hesitate at that before he nodded. "Yes, I believe that you actually are. Raf follows close behind you however. She does enjoy him as a character…just not as much as you."

Sweet! I was like a movie star! "So…what do we do now?" I asked Paul as I glanced out of the cave.

He, in return, stood and offered me a hand up. "What we do now is use our phones and text the base. From the episode that was based off this event, that should allow the bots on the other side to get a bridge for us to get us out of here. Then, you and I are going to go to my room and I'll let you watch the show that was based off your lives. That way, you can see how things have changed already. I'm going to need your help in getting things as back on track as they can."

Smiling, I nodded and took his hand. "Sounds awesome! Let's get going."

Paul then texted the bots. After a few minutes, the bridge popped up and the two of us waited until Bulk and Cliff came through. Once they picked us up, and Bulkhead started to say that I wasn't allowed out anymore, I glanced at Paul. He seemed more relieved than I had seen him for a while. This was going to be crazy from now on, but I knew that it was going to be great!

 **Starscream's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I was sure that she was the embodiment of bad luck. As I stared down at the human who had crawled down to help us search for any sign of Thundercracker and Skyquake, I finally had this click in my processor. Yes, I cared about the human. She was a part of our team and I wanted to watch out for her safety. But, with the recent situation in my helm, I realized that Lizzie seemed to attract bad luck like we Cybertronians attracted scraplets.

It started with her arrival on our ship. No other human could have had that sort of bad luck. Then, she had had the unfortunate luck to fall right in front of Lord Megatron before Soundwave and I had been able to explain her existence on the ship. After that, she had been dragged out of sleep and warped to the bridge by my brother Skywarp upon his arrival on the ship with Thundercracker and a few others. Then, she had been left alone in Lord Megatron's throne room…on his throne, and it was only by some strong luck that she was able to live through that.

Next, she had been affected by a malfunctioning bridge along with the twins and had been injured during that folly trip. Not to mention the giant snake that had chased them through the return bridge. On top of all of that, Lizzie had been made late to one of her lessons with Lord Megatron and that had not been good. Luckily, he had allowed the mistake to slide that once.

Then, she had somehow gotten on Astrotrain's bad side after only seeing him for a few nanos. That was a record itself. While none of us really liked that triple changer, it took him longer than a few nanos to hate us as much as he did her. I was on guard making sure that he didn't do anything against the newest member of the Decepticons.

After that, she had almost failed her test because the Autobot Flamewar, nasty piece of work that femme, had slid passed us and had caused a number of problems. Lizzie didn't need that kind of stress and yet that was what she had received.

Lastly, and now, she was in this room where the ground bridge had again malfunctioned and had caused two of our troops to disappear. Even though Lizzie would not be held responsible, since she was not in charge of the controls at the time, I realized that she seemed to be in the middle of a lot of bad luck.

It had been about thirty clicks since Thundercracker and Skyquake had gone missing in the bridge and it was a miracle that Lord Megatron hadn't found out yet. I was sure that Vox would have a spark attack if he did before we got the two missing mechs back. He was already involved in the problem with Lizzie back during that ground bridge incident. It would not do the car mech any good to have Lord Megatron see that he was stuck in the middle of this one as well.

"Hey mechs," We all turned to Lizzie as she spoke, staring at me as she did. "do you think that a private message would get through to them? From what I've been told about them, they are usually more effective than regular coms…especially if there is something like carbon in the way."

All of us stared at Lizzie for a click. I don't know about the others, but I was in shock. Why hadn't I thought about that earlier? Of course, the private comm system would be a good way of contacting the two missing bots! It was such a regular part of our lives that I didn't think on it much. I had to say, even though Lizzie was turning out to be some sort of bad luck charm, she at least could get herself out of the problems that were around her. Guess that was what made her a good enough strategist to pass her test.

I connected with Thundercracker's private comm before sending a message. " _Thundercracker, are you getting this? -Starscream"_

" _Thank Primus! We've been trying to get in contact with the ship for the past thirty clicks. The Autobots were just here. Guess some of their group got stuck in this wacked up place too. If you have Soundwave send a bridge at the exact same coordinates that we were sent to, then I think we can make it back to the Nemesis. Oh, and Skyquake wants me to ask what made you all think of using the private comm system to get a message to us. -Thundercracker"_ I immediately got back from Thundercracker.

"Soundwave, Thundercracker says that the Autobots had some of their group get stuck wherever they are. He thinks that, if you send a bridge to the same coordinates that you set for them to leave that they can get back." I repeated the first part of Thundercracker's message to Soundwave before I got back on the private comm and responded. " _The idea was Lizzie's. It seems strange that she thought of it first, but I can't complain. -Starscream"_

The bridge then opened and, to my relief, both Thundercracker and Skyquake walked out of it. Once they were out, though, Vox walked up to them. "Where were you two at? We couldn't track your signals and the private message and Thundercracker's trine bond with Starscream and Skywarp were the only way that we knew that you were both still online."

They both looked at each other before Skyquake said, "It was weird. We were in the area that was our intended destination, but everything was shadowed. Plus, when the Autobots showed up and closed the bridge that they opened for their group, we tried to attack them, but we passed right through them. If it wasn't for your private message to Thundercracker, I would have thought that I was offline." He then shook his helm. "I don't want to go through that again."

I wasn't sure what could have happened but, with a quick glance down at our newest strategist, I realized that Lizzie might. "Lizzie, what is it?" I prodded her.

The others looked at her as she looked up. "Well, I'm not sure. There was some internet conspiracy that I read about a few years ago that brought up the idea of the existence of dimensions that were parallel with the one we are in. I think that they called them 'shadow zones'. I kinda pushed that aside as crazy internet talk but it looks like there may have been more to them."

"That does indeed seem to be the case." I flinched, and most of the others besides Soundwave jumped, and we all looked to see Lord Megatron behind me. How did he sneak into the room without anybot hearing him? Out of the number that were here, surely somebot besides Soundwave would have been able to see him come in. But, from the reactions, that didn't seem so. "Was there an issue?" He questioned, probably curious about all of us being congregated here.

"My Lord, from what we have been able to find out," Vox started. "it seems that when we opened the ground bridge for Thundercracker and Skyquake to go on patrol, the Autobots opened up a bridge at the same location at the same time. This convergence of two bridges from two locations caused Thundercracker and Skyquake to become trapped in a sort of 'shadow dimension' that cut them off from all communication except for the private coms."

"And we just used those to bring Thundercracker and Skyquake back." I finished off Vox's report. No need for the mech to keep himself in the focus of Lord Megatron's attention. Like I thought about earlier, he was involved in the ground bridge debacle with Lizzie and the twins and it would not be good for him to do all the talking.

Soundwave then showed Lord Megatron a clip of the events that transpired and confirmed Vox's idea of the converging ground bridges. Once he was done with that, Lord Megatron nodded and straightened. "Very well. Since that has been taken care of…Starscream, Soundwave; come with me. I have much to discuss with you." I nodded and went to follow Lord Megatron, as did Soundwave.

However, my younger brother decided to hold that up. "Hang on," We all looked to him as he turned to look at Lizzie. "Lizzie, isn't your insignia ready? This would be a good time to show Lord Megatron and the rest of us too." That was right. I forgot that Lizzie had the drone, Dan, use his soliform to place an almost permanent marking of our insignia on her body. That was what the covering over her neck was hiding. She said that the process needed healing but, since Dan had combined human use of 'tattooing' with other ways from other planets that we visited, he said that the healing should only take a servo-full of cycles.

Lizzie, on her part, seemed surprised by Skywarp's question but looked to Lord Megatron. That was smart. She should wait for his approval at the interruption before indulging my idiot brother. She did learn more quickly than I thought she would. It was going to be very interesting working with her when I could. Plus, I had plans to drop in on Lizzie's training session tonight and get some more soliform training in with her.

After a few clicks, Lord Megatron turned to Lizzie. "Lizzie, your insignia is ready to show?"

She nodded to him and moved her hand to the bandage covering it. "Yes, my Lord." She responded before she took off the bandage and showed the tattoo to us. I was impressed. With her extremely shortened hair, from what I heard we had the drone Sid to thank for that, the tattooed insignia was easier to see. The Decepticon insignia was metallic looking, like ours were, and it looked like it had been lasered out of her skin like ours were lasered from our chassis. That was a smart choice for her to go with. It wouldn't tarnish the name of the Decepticons.

"That is acceptable." Lord Megatron responded to it before he sent Skywarp a look. "Now, if there aren't any more interruptions, we will take our leave."

I knew that meant that it was time for me to head out with Soundwave. So, I followed dutifully behind Megatron as he walked out of the room. But, as I did, I allowed my thoughts to return to Lizzie. She had seemed so scared of me when I had first seen her in that hallway that I could not have pictured that she would have come this far in the solars that she had been on the Nemesis.

For the briefest click I wondered what she would be like if she were one of us. But, that thought was too ridiculous, so I pushed it aside. Lord Megatron wanted to talk to Soundwave and me about something and, as we came up to the bridge doors, I knew that subject would start soon. I didn't want to put myself in hot oil with Lord Megatron, so I cleared those thoughts out of my helm.

* * *

 **Miko: So...this is what this area of the house looks like. I just thought it was just a torture chamber. Always hear people crying from over here.**

 **Paul: *sighs* You aren't far off from the truth. Welcome to the insanity.**

 **Authoress: Yes. I needed another test sub...friend here to help with these.**

 **Miko: *slightly nervous* Why doesn't that sound like she is serious?**

 **Paul: *moves slightly away from Authoress* Probably because it isn't.**

* * *

 **AN: So this brings us to the next thrilling chapter of Resolve of One! So many surprises that I'm almost not sure where to start. But, it seems like it would be wise to follow the points of view. So, let's begin!**

 **Firstly, it seemed like Paul was given Lizzie's 'two-weeks notice' with not much notice. What will come from the increased frictions between Lizzie and Paul? Who is right? Is there a right or wrong side? I'll let you all wonder that.**

 **Next, we move to Lizzie. Seems like she is trying to put that conversation with Paul into the clear back of her mind as she deals with the ground bridge sending Thundercracker and Skyquake to the shadow zone. How I did it was like this; (in case you couldn't follow my explanation in the chapter or missed it) The Decepticons opened a ground bridge to the same exact set of coordinates that the Autobots did at the same time the Autobots did. This caused the two bridges to fluctuate and throw the beings in their confines to the shadow zone, though not in the same area (so Paul and Miko wouldn't get caught). Figured that was the best way to deal with the shadow zone and still include it. Let me know what you thought.**

 **Thirdly, we went to Miko and that craziness! I finally did it! Unlike the original story, Power of One, Paul has revealed his and Lizzie's origins to someone else quite early...season 1! Last time he wasn't revealed until near the end of season 2 (to some Decepticons) and to Cliffjumper around the same time! Plus, you may have noticed that Paul did not tell Miko everything that happened during that last talk. That was on purpose. Paul still thinks that Lizzie is being forced to say the things she did and, from some of the ideas Miko threw at him during her point of view, he might just believe that more.**

 **Lastly, we go to Starscream who realizes that Lizzie is quite the bad luck charm. Seriously she can't seem to stay out of trouble! *dies laughing* Anyways, we finally get a description of Lizzie's tattoo. Sorry if the description is poor. I don't have any tattoos and I am not used to describing them outside of 'that looks cool' or 'it looks awesome' and other basic phrases like that. That was probably the hardest part for me to write during this point of view. Plus yes, I did have her hair cut very short. Figured it would be best so it didn't look like she was ashamed of her insignia and was trying to hide it.**

 **Wow...that was a lot of typing. There's my synopsis of this previous chapter. There were some other hints about events to come (and that have passed that might not be as clear as you think) thrown in this chapter so keep an eye out (or optic out). Next chapter sees us working with what was originally Operation: Breakdown. How are things going to play out for Paul and Lizzie during that? I guess we shall see then!**

 **Well, that's all of the sneak peek and recap stuff for now. Here are the names of the next chapters. In italics, I have put the name of the episode that the chapters are following. Of course, that might not tell you much about what is to happen...or maybe it will. You will have to stick around to find out!**

 **Chapter 16: Where True Evil Multiplies _Originally Operation: Breakdown_**

 **Chapter 17: There will be Dark Times _Originally Crisscross_**

 **Chapter 18: ...? (Find out next time!) XD**

 **Alright, so that's all for now. I hope you all liked the chapter! Please leave a review, even to say hi! I like hearing from you all! Until next we meet though, TTYL! *(sings) We're disoriented, demented, and a little nuts!***


	17. Where True Evil Multiplies

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Lizzie: Wow. What took so long to get this up Authoress? Last time I checked, you were almost done with this.**

 **Authoress: *sighs* I almost had this done when I accidentally lost about two-thirds of the work that I had done. I sulked for a couple days.**

 **Rumble: You are almost as good of a bad-luck charm as Lizzie.**

 **Lizzie: *upset* Hey!**

 **Authoress: *shakes head* Where do you think she gets it?**

* * *

Chapter 16: Where True Evil Multiplies

 **Vox's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

Even though I was on an energon scouting mission with Breakdown right now, I found my thoughts wondering to the human that was recently inducted into the Decepticon ranks. The other solar, Lizzie started her first solar working as a strategist and, in doing that, she got to work with Soundwave and me on strategizing different tactics for gaining the remaining relics that were currently hidden on Earth that the Praxian Database had on record. We had the next four coordinates already decoded but we were not going to rush and go to the locations. Lord Megatron wanted us to make plans to retrieve each relic at each location.

And that was what Soundwave, Shockwave, and Lizzie were working on right now. While I was with them for the first two coordinates, which were on hold on being planned while I was out on patrol with Breakdown, they were working on the next two. Once those were planned, I knew that Lord Megatron was going to want us to start working on decoding some of the coordinates for the Iaconian database. It was going to be more difficult to work with because, even though the Praxian database had some weapons that were more dangerous than most that would have been held in Iacon, the few that were more dangerous in Iacon were extremely so.

At least, that was what Remcy used to say when he was my teacher…way back when I used to blindly follow the Autobots. I would never regret leaving the Autobot faction. I had been cast aside and left to offline. I would never go back to them. Never. But, there were a few Autobots…very few, that I had to believe didn't know what happened to me. Of the betrayal that I had faced by them. My spark and processor hoped that Remcy was one of those. Yes, my reckless belief in everybot who called me their ally was one of the weaknesses that had caused me to be betrayed by Flamewar, but I knew it was also a strength that caused me to work even more efficiently.

And Lizzie was a being that showed that. There she was, a human who could easily be killed by any of us by the simplest misstep, and in the case of Astrotrain maybe on purpose, actively interacting with us and trusting us not to kill her on the spot. Even though I never lost my feeling of trusting others completely, seeing Lizzie interacting with us helped cement that belief in me. There were more good beings out there than the few bad ones like Flamewar.

Glancing at Breakdown, I realized that I hadn't really asked Breakdown about his opinion on our newest Decepticon. As an intelligence agent for the Decepticons, I tended to overanalyze what I was thinking on. However, as a warrior, Breakdown would have a different look on Lizzie. "Breakdown," I started as we moved through the abandoned human settlement. "what do you think about the Coordinator? Honestly?" Had to remember to call her the Coordinator out loud. Otherwise I could get in trouble. Been on the skirts of that too much lately and I needed to let things calm down.

Breakdown glanced at me in surprise for a nano before he shrugged. "Honestly? I've been surprised by her since she was first introduced to us. I thought that she was going to fail a while back but she keeps moving forward. Now, I look forward to the training sessions I help the others give her in soliform. She keeps improving and, if she was one of us, she would be a monster as well as an almost irreplaceable soldier." He then shrugged. "That's just my opinion though. Not like it is going to change much."

Before I could respond that that, I paused as my scanners picked up movement around us…and now that I focused I was picking up two energon signals. This wasn't good. Given the isolation of the signals, then we were about to have some unwanted guests. "Breakdown, we have company." I noticed Breakdown tense as pedesteps were finally able to be heard.

I stayed tense as the two Autobots appeared in our sights. One was the green warrior called Bulkhead and the other, to my discomfort, was the two-wheeler known as Zarron. When I saw him in his first two battles here on Earth, I thought he was a psychotic mech, more so than Blitzwing, with a few screws loose. I mean he, who was one of the smaller frame types that a Cybertronian could be, had gone after the more threatening bots in each encounter. When I first saw him, he went and attacked Astrotrain, who is a triple changer. Then, when we were in Greece, the two-wheeler went after Lord Megatron.

"Move!" I focused as Zarron's yell shook me out of my thoughts and I had to quickly bring out my blade to stop the two-wheeler from slicing my helm off. At the same time, Bulkhead charged at Breakdown and the two were going at it like any warriors would. Zarron and I traded blows for a few clicks before we ended up in a deadlock. "What caused you to leave the Autobots Vox?"

That was weird. This bot was talking like we were old friends and he was trying to find out answers. But, I had never met this bot before in all of my existence…even during my time with the Autobots. So why was he talking like we were friends? It didn't make sense. When the Autobot Cliffjumper tried to question me back in Greece, he sounded like most Autobots did when they fought with me. Angry that one of their own would go to the Decepticons.

But Zarron didn't sound angry. He sounded confused and curious. That made him dangerous to me right now. I couldn't trust him. I didn't know him. But, he wasn't acting mad that I had betrayed the Autobots…he just wanted to know why. That wasn't any of his business! However, since I was an intelligence agent by training, I decided to try and get some information about this new Autobot. "What's it to you? I'm a Decepticon now and that is really the only thing you should be thinking about."

The two of us then split apart and traded more blows before we ended up in another lock and Zarron took that time to answer me…surprisingly. "I don't like it when events are left with open ends. I want to know what happened. What caused you to leave the cause that you had first pledged yourself to? I want to know!" He then pushed me back and I had to parry his following attack. For a two-wheeler, Zarron was very battle proficient.

Plus, he seemed curious about what was going on with why I left the Autobots. Too curious. I didn't know his angle and giving out too much information to a bot that I didn't know was not something that I did. "Back off Autobot. That's between me and my past and you don't need to know anything about me except that I am going to defeat you." Then, in a quick move, I closed the distance between us and, while he blocked a strike I made with my blade, I brought my fist up. The sound of my fist contacting his faceplate caused a boom to sound and the two-wheeler went to the ground unconscious.

Even though a part of me wanted to offline the Autobot right then and there, I realized that taking him prisoner might be a more tactful use of the bot. But, he would have to be kept away from the Coordinator. This wouldn't be a good situation at all.

"Vox, you take out that two-wheeler yet?" I turned as Breakdown pulled Bulkhead's unconscious chassis behind him. From the spark signal I was still picking up, the mech was still online and would probably wake up in a few cycles.

"Yeah. Did you have any issues with him?" Needed to make sure that Breakdown was alright. I was pretty sure that Knockout would throw me in the Pits if I didn't make sure that Breakdown was alright.

The warrior nodded and motioned to the two unconscious Autobots. "Only a couple of smarting glances that Knockout can get out easy enough." He then continued. "What should we do about these two?"

I followed his look at the two Autobots. While it was going to cause some issues, the only thing I saw as an option for these two was to bring them back to the Nemesis as prisoners. However, we would have to be careful. So far, Lord Megatron had guided us in taking great lengths to keep Lizzie's current status among us away from Autobot audios. Calling her 'Coordinator' being one of those methods. From Soundwave's report about how the Autobot Cliffjumper acted on the battlefield on Rudulf Island, that goal was even more steadfast.

So, I answered Breakdown. "The only thing we can do. Call in Soundwave for a pickup and say that we will need help transporting two Autobot prisoners with us. Lord Megatron will tell us what to do after that." I then raised my servo to my audio to call in the request.

"Move!" I flinched when Breakdown shoved me out of the way while yelling that.

When I turned back to him, I felt my optics widen when he was suddenly struck with an electrical projectile. What the frag was going on? Where did that come from? "Breakdown!" I yelled as the mech went down, unconscious. This wasn't good. I had to call the Nemesis and get back-up here,

I let out a scream as I felt something impact against my armor and electrical currents started to travel through my systems. Before I lost consciousness, I caught a glance of a helicopter moving toward the two of us.

 **Paul's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"This isn't going to end well." I muttered as I sat on the ledge of the human area, staring at the bridge. I knew where we were supposed to be at in the timeline and that would be Operation: Breakdown. Bulkhead was supposed to go to the Comp Chakna peninsula in Eastern Russia and end up getting his aft handed to him by Breakdown. Then, he was supposed to wake up to Miko calling him and, once he got back to base, he was to tell us how he got his aft handed to him before Agent Fowler came in and dropped the bomb about MECH having taken Breakdown.

And...well, that was what was supposed to happen.

"So, am I still going to call Bulkhead?" Miko asked me.

I had a feeling that the only reason that she was asking me was because the episode had already changed, and it was going to be difficult to keep up with how the timeline should be. Instead of just Bulkhead going to the peninsula, Zarron had volunteered to go with the big lug and the two of them had not called back yet.

Zarron and Pitch, two of the Autobots that I had the hardest time predicting and, it really shouldn't surprise me. While i was technically the creator of the Cybertronian race, Lizzie had birthed the two of Autobots out of the recesses of her mind. Of course, when she originally created them, they weren't Autobots. But, that was their role here and that meant that they were at least doing better than their creator.

But, I had to say that Zarron seemed to be a lot like Lizzie. From the time that I spent studying her, back in her home dimension, Lizzie was like Zarron. She didn't socialize with people she wasn't already close with. She would give them a chance, true, but it would take Lizzie a long time to really open up to others around her. She didn't have many friends but, the few she did, she had made sure to defend with whatever she had.

And she chose to give all of that up, becoming non-existent in her own dimension, to come and help bring peace to this one. But, events had changed that. Lizzie had ended up on the Nemesis and, even though I was sure that it was through some sort of stockholm syndrome, the Decepticons seemed to have earned a spot in that limited area of trust. that was what was going to make showing the truth to Lizzie that much more difficult.

Now, if only I could have that kind of breakthrough with Zarron, then things might start going my way. the mech seemed to like to stay closed off from all of us at base for the most part. He didn't seem to mind Cliffjumper too much but, much to my surprise, Zarron had somewhat opened up to Wheeljack. They were both lone cyber-wolf types so the two of them growing this closer friendship had thrown me for a loop. I wouldn't say that Zarron was open to the Wrecker yet, but he definitely seemed to agree more with Wheeljack than anybot else...even Optimus.

But I was getting off track.

Glancing at Miko out of the corner of my eye, after figuring that it was around the time that she should be calling Bulkhead I nodded. "That seems like a good idea Miko. Why don't you go and…"

"Base, this is Bulkhead. We could use a pickup. And have Ratchet ready to make some repairs. We got hit pretty hard." Bulkhead's tired-sounding voice came through the base comm system. that caused Miko and I to jump. Here we go again. Fate wasn't allowing the events to play as they should and now we were going to have to try and fix what we could without revealing that I was really their god in disguise. A bit tricky but I was hoping that this would all pay off.

"Bridge coming up." Ironhide responded to Bulkhead's request before he opened up the bridge.

All the optics, and eyes, were focused on the bridge as the sound of pedesteps and dragging came into focus. After a few seconds, the vision of Zarron supporting Bulkhead the best he could came to everybot's view and, once the bridge was shut, Ratchet didn't waste time in helping Zarron lead Bulkhead to sit down on a crate that was near him. It would be better to get the repairs done quickly as well as the debriefing.

"What happened?" Optimus asked the two bots while Bulkhead was getting fixed up. I noticed that Zarron was pretty banged up as well but, since he wasn't saying anything about it for now, then I wouldn't say anything for now. But, I doubted that Breakdown would have been able to do that much damage to both bots, from what I have seen of them on the battlefield and in the practice areas.

Zarron, to my surprise, was the one that started to answer Optimus. "We were on the trail of an energon trail when the Decepticons Breakdown and Vox intercepted us and we ended up in battle with them. Bulkhead fought Breakdown while I fought with Vox. However, our enemies were underestimated and that caused both Bulkhead and me to be knocked out by our respective opponents. When we came to, however, there was not a trace of the Decepticons...or that they had been there in the first place."

"You let two Decepticons get the better of you?" Flamewar seemed to taunt Zarron with a seer.

Zarron cast her a quick look, almost a glare but not quite, before he said, "At least I didn't run from the one that confronted me."

"Enough!" Optimus ordered the two before things could escalate any further. "Zarron, continue."

Flamewar seemed to be put in place, for now, after Optimus had intervened, though I didn't miss the glare that she sent to Zarron before she stood down. However, Zarron seemed to be contemplating continuing on with the banter. But, must have decided against it as he returned his attention to Optimus. "Like I said, no trace of the Decepticons when I came to. I was up first and I helped Bulkhead come back to consciousness. He then called the bridged and you know the rest."

The base stayed quiet for a click as everyone seemed to take in Zarron's report. While everything seemed to be on the up and up about it, there was a small detail that was bothering me. Bulkhead had been the one to call in, like Zarron said. But, Zarron said that he had also been the first one awake. That brought up a question.

"Hang on," Pitch finally spoke, his optics focused on the two-wheeler and I noticed that he was slightly tense. I wonder why that was. "you said that you were awake first. Yet you waited until Bulkhead was awake before you had him call in base. Why didn't you just call into base yourself?"

It was hard to hear, but from the focused look that came into Zarron's optics when Pitch asked that, I knew that Zarron heard the slight challenge in Pitch's question. While he wasn't as forthright as Flamewar, the mech seemed to be trying to trip up Zarron on something.

However, it seemed that Zarron was already ready with a response to that. "You are right. But, it is not so difficult to understand. During my fight with Vox, he damaged my comm system. Outside of personal messages, I can't do anything with it. It isn't a serious injury so I figured that it could wait until the doc was done with Bulkhead. Breakdown really put the beating down on him and he needs the care sooner than me."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Wheeljack suddenly asked, causing Zarron to throw a weary and nervous look at the bot. Yeah...I was never going to be able to read that two-wheeler. "I can fix you up in a bit. Just sit down and let me borrow some tools from Ratchet."

Zarron's optics went slightly wider when Wheeljack finished his proposal and he shook his helm before quickly saying, "I'll be fine until the doc has a click to look at it. I'm not used to other bots working on my helm and I'd rather have Ratchet work on it. If something goes wrong, it could mess up some files that I have saved up there."

Files? I was curious about what kind of files Zarron could be worried about losing but it seemed like I was the only one as Bulkhead jumped in the conversation. "Don't worry Zarron. 'Jackie's a pro at fixing up bots...for not being a medic. He's fixed up my comm system more times than I can count."

Springer nodded at that. "Mine too. I bumped into Wheeljack a few times out on the battlefield and he patched up my comms and they still work perfectly find this solar."

It was strange, but Zarron almost looked like he was being backed into a corner. Across his optics, I could almost see an internal debate going on to determine whether he should still try and fight or just give in and let Wheeljack work on him. Ratchet was still working on Bulkhead and not having your comm in proper working order would not be good for him. But, given with how Zarron had been acting so far, I was sure that he would refuse Wheeljack's offer and wait for Ratchet to finish patching up Bulkhead before,

"Fine." ...Say what? I could barely believe it when I heard that short and strained response come out of Zarron's vocals. It seemed like everybot else was too, besides Wheeljack, before Zarron continued. "However, I reserve the right to have you stop working at any time. I will take full responsibility for any damage that comes from stopping abruptly if that happens. Is that understood?" Zarron seemed nervous but I was still surprised that the mech was letting Wheeljack work on him in the first place.

"You got it." Wheeljack replied, with the necessary tools already in servos, before he started work on Zarron.

"What do you think the Decepticons were doing out there?" Chromia asked, bringing us all back to the subject of importance for the given click. The Decepticons were there in Russia for a reason. Also,

"More importantly," Blaster added, "why did they leave you two there when they had you in a pretty good spot for them."

And...Fowler!

…

…

…..

Oh frag. Please not again! Please! This wasn't like the other things that might be able to be fixed in the long run. Without the Autobots saving Breakdown, events in this dimension would turn to a point where so many things could go wrong in the future that could not! We needed Breakdown online for now, and away from MECH so he could be offlined by Airachnid when she finally broke away from the Decepticons. Then, MECH would find his chassis and use it to resurrect their almost-dead leader. that would bring project Damocles into focus and show the importance of the human factor in all of this.

Yes, it sounded strange, but I needed Breakdown to get away online now so he could die later. It was due to him that Airachnid is exiled onto Cybertron...well, indirectly through his offline chassis and her being infected and going after Soundwave...but still. It would be a step for the Autobot movement to get Cybertron...what they needed to get by the end of all this. It would be very touch and go if Breakdown were to be kept by MECH and somebot else on the Decepticon side offlined due to this change.

Lastly, we could not let MECH have access to Breakdown's technology and biology. With the little information they already had, they could take down a Cybertronian with relative ease. If they were allowed too much time with Breakdown's chassis, then MECH could grow even more powerful than before and they might just become that third element that would throw everything into jeopardy.

Vox...well, since he wasn't a part of the original timeline I wasn't so worried about him. Honestly, if he was out of the way, that would be one less bot who could mess things up. However, I wouldn't want MECH getting his tech either so I would need to get him back.

"Um...Paul, should we be saying anything?" Miko asked me with a nudge.

I focused back to reality and noticed that most of the bots had gone off already, except for Ratchet, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Zarron. While I wanted to say something…anything to get the Autobots to go find Breakdown, I knew that I couldn't. "Miko, we can't. If we try and tell the Autobots that MECH currently has Breakdown as a prisoner, then they will want to know how we know that. The Autobots can not know of my true identity at this time. No matter the cost. We just have to hope that the Decepticons will come around and rescue their own."

She looked like she was thinking about that for a few seconds before she responded. "But Paul, these are the Decepticons. What are the odds that they are going to go and save them?"

While I wanted to encourage her, let her know that things would be alright, I couldn't give her false hope like that. "Honestly Miko...not good." I then turned forward and looked to where Ratchet was just finishing up Bulkhead and Wheeljack was still looking at Zarron before sighing. "Not good at all."

 **Lizzie's 1st P.O.V.**

I was nervous. True, I had passed my final test and was a fully fledged member of the Decepticons. I even had my insignia tattooed on my neck. No, that wasn't the problem at all. No, this nervousness was due to something not as serious.

Currently, I was on the bridge with Soundwave working on decoding more of the Praxian database. Ever since that first day when I started to work under Soundwave and Shockwave, we had been constantly working on the database, decoding the coordinates that were here on Earth that held the location of the many relics that used to be in Praxus. However, we were not going after the coordinates right away. Lord Megatron informed us that he wanted us to have at least seven of the coordinates decoded and strategized for before we went after the relics.

So, if I was fine and in the clear, for now, then why was I nervous? Well, there were two factors that were causing me to be nervous. One of those was that Lord Megatron was in the room watching Soundwave and me work on the database. I always got nervous when someone who wasn't working on the same thing that I was watched me work. I felt like I was being judged on each move I made and, given that being judged on the Nemesis was a big thing, then I felt like my life was on the line...even though it wasn't.

The second thing that was making me nervous was one of the bots currently on the bridge with me. Out of the bots on the bridge, which included Lord Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream, Blitzwing, Skyquake, and Astrotrain, it was the final bot in that list that was making me nervous. It started before I had even earned my place among the Decepticons. Astrotrain had always made it known that he didn't like that I was here on the Nemesis. When I became a fully-fledged member of the Decepticons, that hatred became even worse...if that could be believed.

I knew that he wanted me off the ship and, normally, I wouldn't be so worried about that. But, I knew that events were about to happen that would give Astrotrain the leverage he needed to mess me up. The reason that I knew that these events were coming up was due to being on the bridge when Lord Megatron had ordered Breakdown and Vox to go the the Comp Chakna peninsula to scout for a possible energon mine. That had been about an hour ago and, with no word from them for a pick up so far, that meant that this was probably Operation: Breakdown and Vox and Breakdown were now captured by MECH.

And, while I knew I could convince Lord Megatron of the need to rescue the two bots from MECH, I knew that Astrotrain would make a stink about rescuing them and I had to make sure that I debated him with logic without letting my own personal feelings get in the way of the logic. If I did, then Lord Megatron might not agree with me simply because I allowed my emotions to get in the way of presenting a logical argument. I had to be careful.

When the doors opened, I looked and knew that, as Berg walked in with a worried look on his faceplate, that my worry was about to be placed on the front lines and I was going to have to make sure that it didn't come true. "My Lord, permission to report."

"Permission granted Berg." Lord Megatron responded, causing the others in the room to look toward the drone.

Berg didn't seem to be nervous as he started to give his report. "My Lord, the contingent of drones that were placed under me to keep an optic on the human organization known as MECH has come across footage of them attacking Vox and Breakdown. From the footage that we were able to obtain, the group has captured Vox and Breakdown. We have tracked the humans to their base of operations in the area where they are holding Vox and Breakdown."

The room stayed quiet for a few clicks before Lord Megatron nodded, "Very well Berg. Thank you. You are dismissed." Well, I guess Lord Megatron was becoming a more caring leader, given as he thanked the drone. It surprised me but I was glad for it. This meant that going against Paul continued to be a better idea than it was when I first did it. Also, it gave me hope that things were only going to get better being with the Decepticons. If I had a way to show them the truth about me, and they continued on this path to being a more worthy faction, then maybe I would let them know everything about me and why I was here. I hadn't had to lie to them yet, but the truth had been stretched pretty thin that I had to be careful on that too.

Again, the room stayed quiet once Berg left for a few clicks and I could tell, with a quick glance around the room, that everybot was thinking about the information and situation that Berg had just presented us. I already knew what we had to do but I couldn't be the first to react. This was too soon for most to have gone through the information that was given and have a plausible response. Well, at least for an intelligence agent such as myself to work with. I doubted that it would be Soundwave responding first either.

And, I was right. However, I wasn't thrilled at the bot that it ended up being. "We should just leave those useless pieces of scrap to the humans."

" **Jou idiot! Zhey are our comrades!"** Blitzwing interjected. Go Blitzwing! Keep showing why you are my favorite bot ever!

"If they were weak enough to be captured by the humans, then they deserve whatever fate they will have. We don't have the resources to waste in rescuing them." Astrotrain answered in a very disdain-filled voice.

Lord Megatron looked neutral on the suggestion made by Astrotrain and I had a feeling that he was waiting for one of us to speak up, either in support or opposition of Astrotrain's idea. Since I knew that I needed to have more ground to stand on, and getting one up on Astrotrain would be killing two birds with one stone, then I knew that I should respond now before anyone else could.

"Unfortunately Astrotrain, I must say that your analysis of the situation is highly underdeveloped and poorly thought out." I responded to Astrotrain.

He, in turn, glared at me, I was guessing for daring to go against his idea. "I don't see any advantages in rescuing those idiots from the human organization that took them. Humans are not worth the time to deal with and if those two were weak enough to be captured by them, then we should just forget that they were a part of us. They sealed their own fate."

I shook my head at Astrotrain's pompous response. "Astrotrain, that is a very narrow ill-logical way of looking at this situation." I then turned to Lord Megatron. "Lord Megatron, may I explain to Astrotrain why the requisition of our troops from MECH would be beneficial?" I was pretty sure I worded that right. I wasn't saying that Lord Megatron didn't already know the benefit but I still got to take a crack at the triple-changing idiot in front of me.

Our Lord looked to me and seemed to study me for a click before he nodded. "What is your argument for rescuing them Lizzie? I am assuming that you wish for us to rescue Vox and Breakdown."

"Yes, my Lord." I responded to his own question about my side on the issue before I turned to Astrotrain. "First off, if you have bothered to read the reports that Berg and his team have sent to all officers, then you would see that MECH, ever since the encounter that they faced with the Autobots, have been able to access enough technology to even take down a bot about your size with relative ease and simplicity. It is not so farfetched to assume that Vox and Breakdown are not weak for being captured by this group who knows about our kind...even if that is through our enemies." I then paused. "Secondly, it would be more of a waste of our energon and other resources to not rescue Breakdown and Vox then to rescue them."

"What do you mean?" Astrotrain questioned that last statement. I could tell that, so far, I had made my point decently alright. But, I had to make sure that I covered all that I could so the odds of a counter-argument were slim to none.

So, I continued. "What I mean is exactly what I said. Vox is one of our intelligence agents and we seem to have a decent number of those, true. However, unlike some of our intelligence agents, and others on this ship," mainly Soundwave and me since we were rarely in battle along with the medics most of the time, "both Vox and Breakdown have value on the battlefield. Breakdown more than Vox but Vox still has inherent value on the battlefield. If we take a look at our numbers including Vox and Breakdown, but not the drones since they still need training, and compare that to the battle-functioning Autobots, we can see that, as it stands, our numbers are numerically a few under that of the Autobots. Without Breakdown and Vox, that difference will play more of a part in our long-term battle and the amount of resources we use on repairs and failed battles will be more significant than the few resources that we use in retrieving Vox and Breakdown. Plus, if we allow our enemies to gain access to our higher advanced technology and Cybertronian biology, then that would be placing an advantage into our enemy's lap without fighting back against it."

Of course, Astrotrain wasn't finished yet. "It would be worth the loss. Vox and Breakdown have insulted the honor of Lord Megatron and the Decepticons. Taking them back would be an even greater insult to our Lord and the Decepticon cause." Also, I was waiting for that argument. It had to come up eventually, given how he was reacting. I knew that it would be coming and I knew why. When losing the battle, stoke the judge's ego.

However, Astrotrain wasn't the only one who could play that game and I knew I could play it better. "It would be an even greater insult to our Lord and our cause if we do not rescue Vox and Breakdown. These humans have impetuously and brazenly attacked our Lord and the Decepticon cause by attacking Vox and Breakdown. If we do not rescue them, what message does that give others about our leader and our cause? It would show that we are weak and that we do not are if those who make themselves and enemy of us steal from us and use our own resources against us. We must rescue Vos and Breakdown and make it known that the Decepticons will not idly stand by when we attacked. If Lord Megatron allows it, we must make them suffer for enacting this offence against us."

I think I was more impressed that I didn't allow my emotions to take over my response until Astrotrain gave me a logical opening to do so than I was that I probably handed Astrotrain his aft when arguing against him. Yep. Definitely more impressed about controlling my emotions.

When I looked to Lord Megatron, I could almost swear that I saw a glimmer of a mischievous look cross his optics before he responded. "Very well argued Lizzie. The Decepticons will not idly stand by and do nothing against this insult that these humans have enacted against us. We will launch a mission to retrieve both Breakdown and Vox while teaching these humans that we will not take any insult in any form." He then paused and I felt my heart freeze in worry when I saw a quick flash of a smirk appear on Lord Megatron's faceplate. "And who better to lead our ground troops than our newest strategist who is very acclimated to the workings of this planet."

...Say what?

"My...my Lord, I thought we were keeping my identity a secret? If I lead the troops on the ground, security cameras might catch an image of my face and then the Autobots will realize that I am more than just the prisoner they assume I am. It would remove a stressor from the Autobots that we need to keep a hold of the mental advantage on the battlefield should other methods fail." I wasn't an idiot. I knew that use of my unknown status with the Autobots was a large advantage for we Decepticons and if that advantage was leaked, then we could lose a lot of ground and it would make strategizing that much harder in the future.

"What's the matter human? Scared?" I shot a hard glare toward Astrotrain for that mocking comment. I was not scared. I was thinking with a strategic mind and, with the information I had, this would be a very poor choice. However. I. Was. Not. Scared.

Instead of saying anything, however, I ignored the figurative bait that Astrotrain was dangling in front of my face and awaited for Lord Megatron to respond. With a knowing look, my leader did. "Of course Lizzie. We take advantage of the Autobots thinking that you are a prisoner to its greatest. However, I have had Shockwave, Hook, and Knockout working on a little project to make more use of your smaller stature on the battlefield. Shockwave, if you would."

"Yes, my Lord." I jumped when Shockwave's voice suddenly sounded and I turned to see Shockwave standing in front of the doors of the bridge. He must have come in during my arguing with Astrotrain earlier. That was the only time that I was not completely aware of my surroundings. But, that wasn't important. What the frag was going on? "Not long ago, Lord Megatron approached me with the request to work on a project that would help you, Lizzie, be more effective on the battlefield. With the help of Hook and Knockout, we were able to complete Project Scrapmetal." He then seemed to reach into his subspace and took out what looked like a hi-tech battle suit.

"So we give the human a plastic suit and all of the sudden she is battle-ready?" Astrotrain asked with an annoying tone before he scoffed. "Please." He then shook his helm.

However, Shockwave was ready with a response immediately. "This is not plastic. It is made with a fusion of elements found from Earth and Cybertron." He then handed the suit down to me and I started to put it on. "The Scrapmetal armor is thin and light, not adding any weight to Lizzie's load and making it feel like a second protoform...skin in Lizzie's biological terminology. Compartments on the side of her thighs come equipped with one dagger and one plasma blaster. This armor has been tested to withstand shots from even my own cannon without disintegrating. The shape of the armor is gender neutral so she will not even be able to be recognized as a femme of her species on sight." Well, that worked.

"What about my voice Shockwave?" I asked as I studied the helmet that came with the armor. It did not pass my surprise that this helmet, with a very large visor that was similar to Soundwave's, resembled the mark of the Decepticon faction that was currently tattooed on my neck.

As I put on the helmet, Shockwave continued. "The helmet has a few modifications that will allow for smooth performance on the battlefield. One feature is a comm unit of its own for simple communication between Lizzie and the other Decepticons. The visor itself, while black opaque on our side, will allow Lizzie clear visibility around her and even has sensors built in for detecting objects in her surroundings and, if she needs, can scan the objects to show how they work and allow Lizzie to gain access to data that needs accessed. As for her voice, the helmet also comes equipped with a vocal modulator that will disguise Lizzie's voice as being gender neutral, again detracting from any identifying features that may be used against her."

Well, there went my only argument for going against this plan and so there was only one thing to say. "My Lord, I would be honored to lead our troops in rescuing Vox and Breakdown. I will need to speak with Berg to access floor plans of the facility where MECH has taken our comrades. I will not fail in this." The vocal modulator, to my happiness, did not take away emotion from my voice. So, I could hear the fervor in my own words. "This I swear."

 **Breakdown's 1st P.O.V.**

I growled as I struggled against the chains that were confining me to this...operation table that the humans had constructed. When I had come to, the human that was in charge of the organization called MECH, Silas, had come out of a doorway to my left and walked onto a platform. He looked smug and I had returned to look with a glare before demanding that they release us and I would let them live. Vox was still unconscious.

When the man Silas had said that we were too valuable to release, I thought he was talking about a ransom. Lord Megatron wouldn't pay a ransom. If he could use the right strategy, he would just come and take us from these human scum. But, if not, then I would be glad to sacrifice myself for the good of the Decepticon cause as I knew Vox would.

However, the human had seemed amused by my response and stated that his organization was not looking for a ransom and that he just wanted Vox and me...all of us. Even though I wasn't an egghead, it didn't take my mind long to connect the fact that Silas wanted us for our parts...he wanted to dissect us. I struggled even harder against my restraints while this human described how he was going to tear us apart and 'see what made us tick'.

When Silas came down to stand next to my chassis, I didn't hesitate in informing the scum that he was making a big mistake and, once I got out of these restraints, they would be scraping the puddle of goo that was left after him off the floor. He then decided that, since I wasn't squeamish, that I would watch them tear me apart. I panicked and pulled at my restraints more as the masked operative brought the drill closer to my faceplate...and to my optic. I could stop them as they started to drill around it. Thankfully, working as Knockout's assistant has taught me some tricks and I was able to put myself into temporary stasis after that.

Now, I had just woken up and watched as one of the masked troops ran up to the scum Silas and seemed to whisper something. While he did, I took in what damage these humans had done. From diagnostics of my faceplate area, I was missing my right optic...but they had started with that. A glance at my chest plate showed no visible damage so I had a feeling that they had just opened it up. Guess I was a tougher bot to crack open then they thought.

"It seems a situation has arose and I must go and deal with this." Silas started to speak, presumably to me. "Make yourself comfortable while I am gone." A growl slipped my vocals as he left the room with the rest of the humans. So, it was just Vox and I left in this Pit of a room.

Glancing at the intelligence officer next to me, who seemed to still be unconscious, I was sure I was relieved that they hadn't done much with him. His left arm was disconnected but, from with my work with Knockout, and since I could see said arm on the floor next to the mech, I knew that it could be reconnected fairly simple by one of the docs when we got back to the Nemesis. But, we had to get out of here first! So, I started to pull at the bindings again.

"They aren't going to budge." I flinched slightly when I heard Vox's voice suddenly sound. I thought he was unconscious. "While the metal is inferior, the humans have placed these shackles tight enough against our wrists and and legs that we can't build enough mobility to snap the metal. If we could reach that control panel up there, then we could open the shackles. Until then though, we are pretty much stuck."

"This sucks." I grumbled before asking, "When did you wake up?" I had a feeling that he had been up for a while.

It didn't take the the mech long to answer me. "They were just finishing up with your faceplate. I just felt like, if we could get out of these bonds, you might need help getting out so we could contact the Nemesis." He then paused. "How are you feeling? I can't tell what they did to you but I bet it isn't comfortable."

I shrugged the best I could given the circumstances before saying, "I'm pretty sure they took out my right optic. But, it doesn't hurt since they turned off my pain receptors. I am pretty sure I don't want it back."

He looked like he wanted to respond to that but the sound of an explosion outside caused him to hold his glossa for a click before asking, "What is going on out there? Sounds like a battlefield."

The noise of battle made one answer click and stay in my processor. "I think it's a rescue team." Yes! That meant that we were getting out of here.

However, Vox then spoke and made me question that. "But, is it the Decepticons or the Autobots. I know that we have a task force that keeps up with MECH and it could be us. However, the Autobots have connections with the human government, who probably have information on MECH as well. Are we ready to have to owe the Autobots any favors? Or, if it is the Autobots, they could take us prisoner and try to take valuable information from us."

Well scrap. I didn't think that it could be the Autobots. This might not turn out so good for us if it is them. Maybe we could make a break for it after the Autobots broke us out...if it was them. Unfortunately the odds were fifty-fifty and, given the current situation, I wasn't exactly overflowing with luck.

The sound of thumps around the area of the door that human Silas left from caused both of us to look in that direction. That didn't sound right. If it was an Autobot or Decepticon, they would be too small to go in that area and, even if they did, it would sound louder. A lot louder. That almost sounded like a human fighting something human sized. I would think that it could be Rumble or Frenzy...or both, if Soundwave wasn't so adamant about them not being near battle. When they helped out on Rudulf Island, that was even cutting it close and they were miles away. So, did that mean that it was the Autobots' human allies?

A figure suddenly walking in caused me to lean a lot toward the Autobot side of things. This human was wearing a suit that didn't match with what MECH was wearing earlier so it wasn't with them. Plus, the only human with the Decepticons, Lizzie, didn't have anything like that and, without that, was confined to the ship. Maybe making her a suit would be a good idea? So, since those two options were out, that left the final option; the Autobots.

But, something about this human's suit was throwing me off so I wasn't positive on anything.

"What are you doing in here human?" Vox asked the figure as they stopped at the bars and seemed to look down at us for a click.

When the human responded, I still couldn't tell even what gender they were by the voice. "Well, I am breaking the two of you out." The human then turned and started to mess with the control panel.

Well, I wasn't going to complain but I was nervous. If this human was with the Autobots, then we would be in debt to a human with the Autobots. Maybe if we got the human out of here, that would make us square. "Why are you helping us? Did the Autobots send you?" Vox asked as the restraints were withdrawn from our chassis.

As we stood, the human walked up to the railing and paused before speaking. "Well, I am the Coordinator and, being a fellow Decepticon, I should help get you mechs out of the mess."

Wait...that was Lizzie!? "How?...I mean...you're here…" I couldn't form a sentence as I stared at the human...who we now knew as Lizzie...in front of us.

Vox moved to pick her up and, after she got on his servo and we started to move down the tunnel behind us, she started to answer my garble. "Well, the how was quite simple. After planning out how to best infiltrate this facility, I had Soundwave groundbridge me to an entrance that I could use. With the rest of the rescue operation causing a large enough distraction outside, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to sneak in here. With the training that you all have been giving me, taking out the guards in front of the door was pretty simple. You know the rest."

"Your voice sounds weird with the modulator." Vox commented as we continued down the hall.

She shrugged in return. "Eh, can't help it. But, it keeps me safe from prying ears and the suit helps with the eyes." She then looked at the two of us, and more pointedly, at my missing optic and Vox's arm that he was carrying, before she spoke. "Are you two in pain?"

The sound in her voice, while modulated, still brought out the worry that she was feeling so I was glad that I could answer her positively. "Those twisted humans at least turned off my pain receptors before they did this." I answered.

Vox, thankfully, nodded. "Same here. Wasn't too thrilled about being captured but all things considered, it could have been worse for us all things considered...even counting Breakdown's optic."

Yeah, I could agree with that. Losing my optic sucked but, since the humans had made it known that we were going to offline at their fleshy servos, then I was alright with this. "Okay as much fun as story time is, we are going to be coming out onto the battlefield." Lizzie started, "When we get out of here, Soundwave will be waiting to groundbridge us back to the Nemesis. Knockout and Hook will be waiting to bring us to med bay. Once I get the information about what all MECH messed with, I will go and report to Lord Megatron. The others are ordered to retreat once we get through the bridge."

I wanted to ask a question about how this was all supposed to go down when we reached the end of the tunnel, of which the door was already blown apart, and I stepped outside and saw. "Well, I guess that's a good rescue party." Vox commented as we looked around.

Lizzie, at first glance, seemed to go overboard with this plan. I was counting seven of the higher-command here fighting these humans and they were Astrotrain, though he didn't look thrilled about being here, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Skyquake, Shockwave, Blitzwing, and Starscream to round them out. So I decided to ask her about it while we waited for the bridge. "Coordinator, why did you plan for so many of our higher-command to come?" I asked. It really seemed like overkill and a waste of our resources.

She laughed, which still sounded weird with the modulator, before she answered me quickly. "Show of power. MECH insulted the Decepticons and our might. I wanted to return the favor. Just," She cut herself off with a yell and I had to move to catch her when she was struck with a projectile and started to fall from Vox's servo. Once I brought her up to my height, and the bridge happened to open, she looked at where she was hit and sighed in relief. "Thank everything that Shockwave did a good job with this armor. I'm pretty sure I would have a huge hole in my stomach right now without it."

I just shook my helm and, with Vox's support, walked through the bridge. I did owe my spark to a warrior now. It wasn't to an Autobot, or even a Cybertronian. To my surprise, I owed it to this human Decepticon. She had planned our rescue and had actively taken part in making sure that Vox and I were retrieved.

Even though she didn't say it, I knew that I owed her. I owed her big time. While for a fraction of a nano-click it stung my pride that I had to owe a human, even a human Decepticon, a favor, I quickly got that thought out of my helm. Lizzie had proved herself many times and, from training with her, I knew that she wasn't as weak as her human body showed. If she wasn't human...well…

I pulled myself out of my thoughts when we got onto the Nemesis to Hook and Knockout waiting to help us to med bay.

* * *

 **Rumble: Okay, something happened.**

 **Authoress: *sighs* I already said that I lost over half of the writing and had to re-write it.**

 **Frenzy: *nods* We know. I think you missed a part that included us when you rewrote this.**

 **Rumble: *nods* Yeah, that's right. Where are we at? We are important to all of this! I mean Astrotrain got more time than we did.**

 **Authoress: *calming motion* Don't worry you two. You had to be off screen this time for a very important reason.**

 **Frenzy: *curious* What?**

 **Authoress: *dark smirk* You two have been working on getting your revenge on Lizzie for pranking you all.**

 **Frenzy and Rumble: *dark smirks* That's right!**

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next exciting chapter to this story! Hope you all liked it! I thought I would have fun and have Vox there as well as Breakdown. But don't worry. The arm isn't permanently gone. He did bring it back to be put back on so Vox won't have the permanent loss that Breakdown has. Secondly, it seems Paul has now been able to show Miko just how much their hands are tied in certain situations. Plus, Paul seems surprised by Zarron at every turn. Will he ever figure out that two-wheeler? Then, we jump to the Nemesis and we get to finally see some of the tension between Lizzie and Astrotrain first servo...hand. Wow, that is a lot of tension. Hopefully, that doesn't come back to bite her in the aft...or him. XD**

 **Also, we got to learn what Project Scrapmetal was! I figured that Megatron would not want Lizzie just lazing on the ship and I had to make a way to get her off without revealing what she was to the Autobots. Yes, Lizzie is the only human on the ship, but the Autobots don't know if there are any other aliens on the ship that look humanoid. The Decepticons do have alliances with other races in this war and the Autobot know this. Paul even knows this so if he should see the footage, especially with the gender-neutral armor, he won't assume it is Lizzie. Aspects of what happened off-screen (not written) about this mission may be brought up later and it will be exciting to see where this all goes. Also, at the end there, she got hit with a large caliber bullet (don't ask me what kind. It is just a plot devise) to show that the armor is strong enough to go into battle and Lizzie won't be hurt. How will this change the future?**

 **Well, that was all for now. Next chapter, which was originally Crisscross, is going to see Lizzie's world will soon become a lot more stressful, some Autobot tensions with how the chapter plays out, and a lot of exciting moments!...maybe?...hopefully?...probably?...Yeah we'll go with probably. XD**

 **Well, that's all of the sneak peek and recap stuff for now. Here are the names of the next chapters. In italics, I have put the name of the episode that the chapters are following. Of course, that might not tell you much about what is to happen...or maybe it will. You will have to stick around to find out!**

 **Chapter 17: There will be Dark Times _Crisscross_**

 **Chapter 18: The Itsy Bitsy Spider _Metal Attraction_**

 **Chapter 19:...Find out next time!**

 **Well, that's all for now. Send a review, say hi, maybe some chocolate...well, maybe not the last part. I do like hearing from you so if you don't have the chocolate I guess I'll live. Until next time though, TTYL! *singing about playing chicken with the train***


	18. There Will Be Dark Times

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

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 **Paul: Seriously, why do you get to my parts when the chapter title is creepy as my brother is.**

 **Authoress: Wow, grudge there much?**

 **Paul: *defensive* No.**

 **Miko: *laughs* I bet there is! *laughs harder***

* * *

Chapter 17: There will be Dark Times

 **Lizzie's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

Whelp, this wasn't what I was expecting. When I pictured the twins getting me back, I thought that it was going to be a very elaborate scheme like they did against Skywarp. Multiple steps that get worse at every turn. But, that wasn't what happened exactly. The only thing that was really the same was that they had to have gotten Soundwave's help with doing this because they would have woken me up otherwise. I had to give the twins one thing though…I was not expecting them to do this at all.

" _Zhis is so much fun!"_ Random cackled as we sat in the med bay waiting for one of the medics to get to us.

I shook my head at that but smiled. "I can't say that you are wrong Random, I would just like to get on my feet here soon. I think I lost feeling in my feet awhile ago. Can't remember. Was having too much fun." Hey, just because it was a prank didn't mean that I was upset by it.

A shifting sound was heard before Icy spoke. "Jou are correct. It was interesting to speak about jou and how jou came to be here." He was talking about how I became a Decepticon…since none of the Decepticons knew the little details that I still wasn't sure I could tell them. It was all delicate information and there was no way that I could prove that what I was saying was true. Humans couldn't have cortical psychic patches performed on them and that was the only way that I could prove that what I was saying was true.

"And I liked hearing about how you joined the Decepticons." I answered back to him.

And, it really was. Blitzwing had been an Autobot, with his Icy personality the only one he had, until he was told to report to the science division for a physical. It seemed normal to him so he had gone. But, the Kaon native bot wasn't prepared to be knocked out and being experimented on. He couldn't remember what bots were responsible for experimenting on him, but when he had tried to report what happened to other bots, he was court-marshalled and sent to be exiled.

And that was when Starscream of all bots had come across him and convinced the triple changer to at least give the Decepticons a chance. Blitzwing said that it was hard for him to assimilate to being a Decepticon at first but, with Starscream's and a bot named Dreadwing's help he was able to become a fluent working piece in the Decepticon war machine. I had to pretend that I didn't know Dreadwing because, even though Skyquake and I were almost best friends at this point, he hadn't mentioned his brother yet.

Then, another click brought me out of that thought as Blitzwing changed personalities again. **"What is taking the medics so long to get to us?"** And that was Hothead finally bringing in his view on our wait time.

"Knockout and Hook said it was going to be a while. The team going to get the relic from Siberia suffered some casualties." I responded. I had been worried about the casualties. I hadn't planned on the Autobots showing up in time to do much of anything but Knockout took that worry out when he said that Astrotrain, the idiot, caused an avalanche and a good number of the drones, and the idiot himself, got trapped and damaged.

" **Zhat idiot Astrotrain. I should have gone on zhat mission."** Hothead complained.

While I tended to usually agree with Blitzwing, I had to shake my head this time. "I don't think you really would have. They were in the snow on top of a mountain digging through ice to get to the cylinder. Then, they had to be careful and not take off the carbon infused ice that was surrounding the container that this relic was in. Would you have really wanted to do that?"

A shift in Blitzwing's faceplate told me that the answer was probably going to be, "Jou are correct Lizzie. Freezing my circuits off vould be best avoidable." Yep. That.

Of course, I was avoiding about what our situation was in the first place and how Soundwave had to have helped them. Well, to get used to my armor, I had taken to sleeping in it for the past four days since the MECH incident. Well, the twins knew this and got Soundwave to help carry me to Blitzwing's room. There, they put fast action cement-like glue on the back of my armor and right now I was currently being carried around stuck to Blitzwing's chestplate. To make matters funnier, they tied a metal string around my waist and around Blitzwing's neck, so I was his 'necklace' of sorts. When Blitzwing woke up, it took me a second to explain what the twins had done and he had played along with it at first.

But then Astrotrain happened.

Blitzwing had been heading to the washracks in hope that a rinse-off would clear me of the cement-glue and unstick me from him...for no doubt the twins had video and pictures of this to spare by now, when the not-so-nice triple changer then entered and made things worse. Without getting into all the details, things were said and the two triple changers started going at it...with me still stuck to Blitzwing. Thankfully, I had that armor on still, including the helmet, because a number of Astrotrain's hits just happened to hit me. So, even though the suit protected me from going splat, I was still sore from taking the hits.

I had not told Knockout about that yet.

When it came to issues of Astrotrain almost every other bot on the ship acted like fragging mother-hens. Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker had an excuse because they had the seeker mother-hen programing. Skyquake was more of a warrior style jet and he even said that he did not have the programing that those three had in defensive reactions around 'younglings'. True, I was an adult technically but to all of them I was a youngling.

Anyways, whenever Astrotrain is around, I noticed that the others aside from Megatron shift themselves to either face me or stand slightly between Astrotrain and me. In this situation, though, it was difficult for Blitzwing to get between all of Astrotrain's blows. That had been a couple hours ago so I was hoping beyond all hopes that there weren't any bruises forming. That would be not a fun time to my day.

"Well, let's get to work on you two." I turned at Hook's voice and watched as he and Knockout walked up to the two of us, Knockout holding a bucket of something. Once they were in front of us, Hook studied the cement-glue and even took a scan of it before saying, "Well, the twins didn't spare any effort on this. Even with the solution we worked on, it's going to take five clicks at least to get you detached from each other. Lizzie, you will have to soak your armor in the bucket for an additional five clicks to get the remnants off. Blitzwing, you'll have to go and take a wash in the racks for a few clicks with the solution coming through to get the rest off." Well crap. Hopefully my current good-streak of luck would hold enough to not let me have any bruises. But, we would see in five minutes.

It was weird. I knew that, as the solution was poured between Blitzwing and me, where the cement glue was, the solution had to be at least boiling point. The steam was drifting from the liquid like no other and I could hear the solution bubbling and sizzle as it made contact with the substance connecting Blitzwing and me. But, I couldn't feel the heat. This suit really was incredible and I was discovering new things about it each day that I wore it. Even today, with the confrontation with Astrotrain, taught me something. It taught me that I could even take being smashed between Astrotrain's fist and Blitzwing's chassis multiple times without losing structure and without making me go splat.

I was in my thoughts for a while because, suddenly, I feel lighter than air as I fell from being against Blitzwing's chassis. Thankfully, I wasn't falling long as Hook reached out and caught me. I noticed he was using a cloth to pick up the wet cement glue so it wouldn't get on his chassis. Smart move. After a click though, he finished and I wanted to delay the probable inevitability that was coming.

"Come on Lizzie. Get that suit off. I don't want to deal with that thing as much as possible." Knockout hurried me along as he placed the bucket down next to me on the table. Well, I tried to delay the inevitable. I took off my helmet first, figuring that there would be a less likely chance of bruising on my face due to how it was built. Since Knockout, Hook, and Blitzwing weren't freaking out yet there were no bruises on my face. But, since I started wearing the armor, I wore a tanktop and shorts underneath since the armor didn't chafe and fit nicely.

But, that was now going to be a problem because since I was wearing a tank and shorts, if I had bruises they were more likely to be seen. Did not think that one through. However, I couldn't complain much. It would be more of a help than a hindrance. Just not in this case.

I couldn't delay any longer and so I took off the armor and held it out to Hook. I was using the armor to hide my body for now. Once Hook took the armor out of my hands though, I knew that I was offline due to the widening, and narrowing, of optics toward me. Since none of these bots hated me, I had a feeling that they were staring at me because of what was probably forming on my body.

"Lizzie Xantara Val where in the Pit did you get those?" Hook demanded as he motioned to the big bruises that I had showing. One was on my arm...and took up my arm, and one took up my left calf. Yeah...those hurt. Plus, I flinched when Hook used my full name. They knew that they were supposed to use it only in exceptionally few circumstances...and this fell into one of those.

"Well…" I started, dragging it out to avoid saying what happened. Didn't need the medics going off on Astrotrain. Would give him something else to be mad at me for.

Unfortunately, Blitzwing decided to answer for me. **"Zhat creation of a glitch attacked me when ve vere in zhe washracks trying to get Lizzie unstuck."** Blitzwing then glared down at me in a parental you-are-in-trouble sort of way. "However, I zhought zhat I had blocked all of his shots aimed at my chestplate."

All three were staring at me now and I knew that I had to get them off my back. "Oh come on. The suit stopped most of the major damage and I can walk on it just fine. It should be better in a day or two." What? I didn't say that it was one of my better defenses.

"What it should be is non-existent." Knockout started to rant first. Figured as much. Just as long as they didn't tell Starscream or his brothers then we would be fine. "You are a fragging Decepticon and Astrotrain knows better than to start fights and get others involved. That is especially since you had no way of getting out of the way of his hits." He then took a scan of my bruises, and my body in general, before he walked up to the monitor. Blitzwing took that time to go to the washrack connected to the med bay to get the rest of the cement-glue off of him.

"Right. Like he would pass up a chance to get at me." I responded sarcastically. I was pretty sure that Astrotrain was aiming for me more than he was at Blitzwing. But, I wasn't telling them that. I was a Decepticon and the Pit be fragged I was not going to have a babysitter!

Hook did not react kindly to my response. "Lizzie, you need to act more careful around Astrotrain. I know you are not as familiar with him as we are, but triple-changers, in general, are a powerful lot. They hit hard, and they are not the type of bots you want on your bad side. You are just lucky that Blitzwing likes you or you would be having more trouble with Astrotrain than you already have. The rest of us, besides Lord Megatron and Soundwave, can only do so much. But, you can't stay with them all the time. You have assignments that are away from them a lot. Try to stay out of reach again."

There were so many things that I wanted to say in return of that. "Yeah, and I'll warn the twins not to stick me to anything like that anymore. There are better ways of pranking." Well, I was actually going to be talking about a ceasefire with them and Skywarp on the pranking front, since we had all been pranked. But, they didn't need to know that bit. To my answer, that seemed like the best idea considering what I could have said. I didn't like having to change my ways because somebot had a problem with me...even if they were a triple changer.

Just as Blitzwing was coming out of the washrack, and Knockout was taking my armor out of the solution, the doors to the medbay burst open and Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker were all there walking in. Scrap.

When Starscream's optics landed on me, they widened before he finally spoke...well screeched. "What the frag happened to you?"

Yeah...this was going to be a long solar.

 **Paul's 1st P.O.V.**

Whelp. This wasn't what I was expecting.

This was supposed to be the time that Arcee should be with Jack when he gets the message that his mother has been taken by MECH. Instead, Miko, Chromia, Arcee, and I were with Jack as he dropped the communicator out of the package. I was a little nervous about what this change was going to say about the future. But, as long as the Autobots got Cybertron, I didn't care about how this went down one way or another. Sure, I would try and keep things as close to possible as I could, but that was my main goal.

"Hello, Jack." Silas' voice came across the communicator that dropped out of the package.

"Silas." All of us humans growled. Great. Just who I wanted to deal with. The only good thing was, and this was a very shallow look at things, that this part of the timeline seems to be going fine...unfortunately. Why couldn't this change like every other fragging thing around me was!?

"What is it? What's going on?" Chromia asked us. That's right. It was hard, with all of these bots showing up, I forgot that she was one of the ones that came post MECH showing up and making a mess of things. Well, she was about to get a front-row seat to all of this...and then some.

"MECH." I answered her, barely containing a growl myself. Only my brother's chassis could chaotically and unknowingly create a species that could spawn so many evil organizations...one being MECH. True, I had a few bad sparks from what I created, but compared to my brother's there was nothing in comparison.

"They know where I live?" Jack asked in a panicked voice.

Of course, that was when Silas decided to jump back into this conversation. "We know things about your family that you don't know." I felt like breaking the communicator in anger in response to Silas' smug tone. But, I had to hold off. There were lives on the line at this moment and I had to be careful. Both Miko and I knew what was at stake during this. True, she wasn't thrilled that 'helicopter' mom was going to be joining us but she understood that it had to happen. The alternative was not pretty. "For example...do you know where your mother is?"

"What did you," Jack started, in an angry tone that I had not heard from the teen yet. Lizzie may not like him and may think that they had nothing in common, but I could see that both Jack and Lizzie were fiercely protective of those they cared about. Fiercely.

However, Silas interrupted Jack. "Understand Jack, we have no intention of hurting her. In fact, we'd like you, Chromia, Arcee, Miko, and Mr. Muskogee to follow the GPS coordinates programmed into this communicator. They'll lead you to a temporary facility I've set up."

This was just getting worse. Silas knew that everything was changing. He singled out Miko, Chromia, Arcee, and me being here. He knew that there were more of us here and that made me nervous. But, it also made me feel slightly better that I was at the base. Not completely thrilled, with me having to deal with Pitch and Flamewar, but better. He couldn't ambush me at my house because I lived in a secret Autobot base that they didn't know the location of.

"Ratchet?" Arcee whispered, trying to get on her comm link. But, she started to yell out in pain as Silas probably scrambled her communication...with a little-added pain.

"Arcee?" Chromia asked in a panic as she went up to her sister.

"Did I not mention our communicator scrambles the signal and your brains?" No, you didn't you fragging sadistic monster. "Any break in the communication or attempt to reach the other Autobots and miss Darby...Well...I wouldn't want to feel responsible for the outcome." His side then went silent and, while I was sure the communication was still up, I knew that this was not going to end well.

Not a word was said as Arcee and Chromia transformed before Jack got on Arcee. Figuring that Jack would want to be alone with Arcee during this, I motioned to Miko before I got on Chromia and Miko got on behind me. Once we were on, and helmets secured, both sisters revved their engines before racing out of the garage and we started to follow the GPS coordinates that MECH programmed for us.

Even though we were driving next to Arcee and Jack, I couldn't hear a word that was said as we drove at high speeds toward the destination. We had to race to make sure that we got to the warehouse facility in decent time.

"Paul...is everything going to be alright?" Miko asked me as Chromia made a turn to follow her sister.

While I wanted to tell the girl that everything was going to be alright, I wasn't going to lie to her. This was a very delicate situation. "Honestly Miko, I'm not sure. But, we just have to have faith that everything is going to turn out fine."

Thankfully, Chromia seemed to understand what I was getting at. "Paul's right, Miko. We just need to be prepared for whatever this MECH group and Silas person can throw at us." Right, like how they were in league with a certain spider-bot. But, Miko and I already knew that so we had to keep focused on the goals ahead.

Soon, we all pulled into the factory and, once we stopped and engines turned off, dozens of red laser lights aimed at Miko, Jack, and myself. Just staying calm was the best thing I could do right now. While it was tempting to reveal myself to get us all out of this, I knew that I had to keep faith that, in the end, everything would turn out alright.

"So...what's the plan?" Chromia whispered to her sister. I could tell that she was battle tense. Well, since Ironhide was her bondmate...that made some sense.

"The usual." Arcee growled softly before she suddenly revved her engine, Chromia following, and both Miko and I had to hold on for dear life as she suddenly went up on her back tire for a split second. Then, both she and Arcee raced ahead and around MECH, who were definitely shooting at us, before we came into some open doors of a warehouse on the grounds.

Once we were all stopped inside, I knew that the party was just about to begin...and it would not be a fun party. "Mom?" Jack yelled out for his mom. Of course, in the back of the ambient noise I was hearing, I could hear Airachnid's pointy spider-esque attachments clicking against the metal of the warehouse.

Then, once all of us humans were off of our respective bots, she spoke. "Looking for June?" All of us humans turned to her voice. "She's hanging around here somewhere."

The two sisters then transformed "Airachnid!" Both growled at the same time before Airachnid wrapped them up with webbing, binding their arms to their chassis.

"What's she doing here?" Miko asked, even though both she and I knew why. Guess she wanted to say something here...since we were in this mess anyways.

Once MECH walked in next to Airachnid, Chromia looked toward Silas and took Arcee's line. "Help them, please! They're human...like you! You can't let Airachnid," She sounded really desperate and, even though I technically wasn't human, I appreciated the sentiment.

However, it was now time for Silas to drop the bomb on her vague hope. "A few human lives are a small price to pay for miracles of science like yourselves." Silas then motioned to two of his goons and they nodded before bringing up their blasters and stunning both Arcee and Chromia, making them unconscious on the ground.

"Arcee!"

"Chromia!"

Jack called out to Arcee at the same time that Miko and I called out to Chromia, all of us running up to the respective bots that we called out for in worry. Thankfully, I could tell that they really were just stunned and knocked out. But, I had to keep a close eye out and make sure that nothing went out of order here. I need Arcee to be kept alive and, even though Chromia was not a part of the original timeline, it would break Arcee to lose her sister here...especially to Airachnid.

"I'll have a private session with you two later. Promise." Airachnid spoke to the two unconscious bots.

"Gentlemen," Silas started, bringing himself back to the forefront of the confrontation. That was obviously some untold signal because five of the henchmen for MECH then came forward and took the communicator and Jack's phone away from him and took Miko's phone along with my own away from me. Thankfully, if things went to the worst, I still had the phone that I was planning on giving Lizzie before all of this started hidden in a special compartment in my shoe. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to use it.

"Now," Airachnid started, causing all of us to look up at her. "I'm still learning about humankind, but one thing is clear to me, Jack. You people care deeply about family." At first, when this started, I was curious about why Airachnid would still focus on Jack instead of Miko and myself. But, then I realized that Jack was Arcee's partner and it wouldn't be hard...with MECH's intel, to figure that out for her. So, the best way to get to Arcee; get to Jack.

"Paul," Miko whispered. But, I shook my head to silence her. We needed to stay on guard and let this unfold correctly.

"Therefore, the sweetest revenge I could possibly devise would be to make you watch as I take your family apart." Airachnid continued to taunt.

"If you hurt my mother, I'll" Jack started to threaten the hunter. That was right. He wasn't there when we first met the bug so he didn't realize how deadly she really was.

"You might have heard about how much I enjoy sport, Jack." Airachnid started with a slight word change from the original. Not bad all things considered. "So, I'll give you the opportunity to save your mother. I've stashed her close by. _If_ you can rescue her before the stroke of twelve, I will let both of you go unharmed" Of course, that was only seven minutes away. Plus, that didn't say anything about what MECH might do to them. "Deal?"

"And if I can't?" Jack asked back. While normally a smart question, his tone made it dangerous. Plus, he was wasting time.

With a smirk, Airachnid simply responded to him with an evil tone in her voice. "What do you think?"

Then, Jack ran up to Silas. "Please, don't let her do this! You can let us go. We won't tell anyone." Speak for yourself, Jack. I know that I would talk as soon as I could. This was a ruse, but I planned on telling whoever I could no matter what the outcome...of course I wanted June to come out of this alive and everyone alright with all I could.

"Enough!" Silas demanded, a slight tone of frustration in his voice before he shoved Jack away from him and onto the ground. With a discreet glance, I saw that Jack took the communicator from Silas. Perfect. At least I was getting some relaxing from this part of the timeline. But, I couldn't stop now.

I snapped back to attention as Airachnid spoke up. "Yes, Jack. Man up already. You only have six minutes to go." And with that, Jack ran out of the building…Airachnid following behind him.

Once both were well gone, Silas walked up to the monitors, his men still pointing their guns at Miko and me, before he spoke. "Now...I know we promised the spider-bot first crack at you…" He then turned and I had a feeling that things were changing. "And normally I would be worried that she would turn this crisscross into a double cross...but we have this identical and _whole_ specimen to work with. Men," He started.

But, I was not going to let him touch either bot and so I stood defensively in front of the two while I motioned Miko back. Thankfully, she listened and moved to stand against the walls. Weapons were still trained on both of us but she was at least slightly farther away from harm now. With this change, it looked like I was going to have to fight to keep things in one piece.

"If you want to even come close to these bots, you will have to beat me first." I challenged the man. I remembered from the Nemesis Prime part of the timeline that Silas had a bit of pride in his fighting background. Well, I had been fighting since before his entire planet came into existence...and won against his planet. I was good for now. So, I decided to add a little icing to the battle cake. "Of course, if the leader of MECH, such a technologically-advanced organization, can't beat a corporate man like me in one on one combat, then you have issues." I then held up my fists in challenge.

And, like I thought, the man rose to the bait. "Special tactics training against a man who sits behind a desk all day? Should be amusing." I then had to raise my arms up and blocked as the man threw a punch.

With that punch out of the way, I quickly retaliated with a kick to his knee before I backed up. Better to debilitate your enemy before they got the upper hand. "This 'man who sits behind a desk all day' may have more to him than you thought." I taunted the man before I attacked him.

The two of us traded blows with blocks for about five minutes, meanwhile, I could hear MECH's men cutting away at the webbing on Chromia and Arcee. This was...alright so far. As long as Chromia and Arcee woke up before they tried to take out their sparks, then everything would work out fine. With another glance, I saw Miko on edge, ready to move once she wasn't being aimed at.

After blocking what would have been a nasty blow from the human, the two of us stepped back slightly and studied each other. "You seem to be more trouble than I thought. Why would you need such heavy training?"

I smirked at that as we started to circle each other. "Because I have to deal with maniacs like yourself coming after me and my company. Need to be prepared for any situation."

The two of us were then about to make a break for it when a commotion on the screens caught our attention. It was of Fowler and his group showing up with three helicopters. "But how…?" Silas started to question in surprise until he reached down and saw that his walkie was missing. Yeah...usually nice to keep a hold of your stuff. Never knew who might take it.

Before another word could be said, both Arcee and Chromia sprang up and, while Arcee bolted out the door to help Jack and deal with Airachnid, Chromia shot some non-lethal rounds at Silas' goons before going to get Miko. "Seems like you underestimated your opponent." I taunted the man in front of me.

"Not a mistake I'll make again." Silas growled.

But, while he looked like he wanted to attack me, he couldn't as Chromia ran toward me, Miko in one servo, and he had to dodge out of the way as Chromia picked me up and started to run outside. As we ran toward the coordinates, I knew that something had to change because I could see June still alive and trapped with Jack at the controls. He wouldn't have been in that position without Arcee before so something had to change to put him in it now.

When a green beam of light suddenly shot into the sky, I knew that Airachnid was scanning Fowler's copter. This was not good. Airachnid was loose on Earth's skies and it would only make the situation on Earth that much more tense. Even though she was supposed to be here, things were obviously changed and her having aerial mobility could endanger more than just my plans. As I looked at Jack and his mom talking to Arcee, I realized that many lives could now be at stake.

 **Megatron's 1st P.O.V.**

I stared down at the training room in curiosity. Lizzie, in her suit, was training against Skyquake's soliform with an intensity that I had yet to see from the human. Not to say that she never showed increasing effort, the human seemed to constantly work on improving and Shockwave reported on his last update that the human was still asking logical questions about the work she was doing with them. However, Lizzie now seemed to be showing an almost ferocious side to her. If I had to narrow down two factors that could have caused this change, I believed that I could.

The first was getting Lizzie out on the battlefield during the recovery of Breakdown and Vox. It was one thing to analyze battles from the safety of a monitor, no worry about what was going on around you. However, she had been placed with her human pedes on the ground and, from the reports I received about how the mission had gone, including Lizzie's own report, she had been confronted with a number of the enemy on her route to release Breakdown and Vox. Having to use the training that she had been receiving would have snapped Lizzie to think about how efficient she was in battle.

However, I had a feeling that it was the most recent incident that really pushed our human Decepticon to this ferocity. I had been informed by Starscream and Hook of an incident that involved Lizzie, Blitzwing, and Astrotrain. Due to her being stuck on Blitzwing's chestplate, Lizzie had been stuck in the middle of a scuffle between the two triple-changers. Injuries were not serious and, since that scuffle seemed to diffuse tensions I let it slide for now. However, Hook and Starscream told of Lizzie being bruised so she had been caught by some of Astrotrain's hits.

I was no idiot, and I made sure that those around me knew that. It was obvious that Astrotrain and Lizzie did not get along well, and that Astrotrain would not hesitate in taking out the human given the chance. Being physically attacked by a triple-changer would have a psychological effect on any being...especially one of Lizzie's size. Add that to the obvious dislike between Lizzie and Astrotrain and that is more than enough motivation to increase ferocity on the battlefield.

"My Lord," I glanced at Shockwave as he walked up to me. "the relic has been secured in the vault."

Yes. It was upsetting that none that were currently under my command here on Earth could use the relic in question but at least it was out of Autobot servos. Not much was known about the weapon but, from what little we did know, we knew that it would only work for a being that it wanted to. The weapon wasn't sentient but it had not worked for any that tried to force the weapon to work for them.

"Very good." I responded to Shockwave's report.

I then turned my glance down to the human and, as I studied her train the way she was, the ferocity and reckless care she was taking, it reminded me of when I first started to fight in the gladiator Pits in Kaon. I thought I was the best of the best and that no one could beat me. I was angry and wanted to fight back against those around me. I didn't think about what my next steps were going to be.

I saw that in the human as she trained now. She was motivated to fight and she had been victorious against the human enemies she had faced. But, then she had to turn around and was unable to defend herself as Astrotrain's attack had impacted her body. From the ferocity that the human was showing, she wasn't thinking about why she was fighting, why she was training. She was just thrashing out at Skyquake's soliform and it was a waste of time. I did not like time wasted. It didn't matter if she was wasting my time or her own, the human would not be allowed to continue wasting time like this.

"Lizzie's attack patterns seem chaotic and poorly thought out." Shockwave observed, looking at the training room scenario as well.

Nodding at that, I straightened before addressing the intelligence officer. "Shockwave, go put a stop to that. Inform her that I do not appreciate wasted time, and that farce she is putting on is wasting it greatly."

"Yes, my Lord." Shockwave acknowledged my order before going off, most likely to put his chassis somewhere to go into soliform.

As he did, I glanced down at the, for right now, only human Decepticon. While Shockwave's intervention was going to temporarily delay this time-wasting behavior of Lizzie's, something needed to be done to ensure that this did not happen again in the future. However, that posed a problem as well. I knew how to read a Cybertronian with relative ease. Humans, however, had different idiosyncrasies that were making my true analysis of our human Decepticon difficult.

So, even though I could threaten Lizzie to get her to stop, that might detract from her effectiveness in being a strategist. So far, I was sure that I had been lucky in using my fear factor on Lizzie up until this point. But, with this strange turn in her attitude, I needed to put the right amount of fear in her, using the right medium as well. Shockwave, until I figured out more about reading humans better, would serve as a perfect medium. I knew by now that Lizzie understood that Shockwave approached everything he did in a logical manner and she wouldn't be able to build up the argument against him even if she wanted to.

This was a bump in our human's path and she needed to overcome it so she wouldn't be wasting time. In this war against the Autobots, time was something that was very precious and wasting it was just as bad as allowing energon to fall into enemy servos. It would not be permitted to stand. If she didn't get herself out of this cycle, then I would have to step in, and if that happened I would not waste any time in doing what needed to be done.

 **Skyquake's 1st P.O.V.**

I flinched as Lizzie landed another hit against my arms. She was venting. That much was obvious. Couldn't really blame her but this was not helping her training. She wasn't working on correcting her flaws. She was attacking wildly and that wasn't very good. I had to snap her out of this but I wasn't sure how. While I knew a bit about human nature from hanging out with Lizzie, I didn't know what could possibly be going through her head.

"Lizzie, you are throwing your punches too widely. Bring them in tighter." I informed her.

"Right." She responded, but she didn't seem to really hear me. How did I know that? Well, that was because she kept throwing punches too widely. I had to get her to calm down and snap her out of this. She was smarter and more analytical than this. Usually, when we told her something, or if we were telling someone else something, she would pick up that lesson and apply it to herself.

When the door opened behind me, I turned and felt tense when I saw a soliform that I didn't recognize. I had seen most of the soliforms of the higher command here on the ship, and the drones seemed to have all the same look for the most part...with little differences to tell them apart. The only ones that I hadn't seen yet were Lord Megatron, Knockout, Astrotrain, and Shockwave. I was pretty sure the soliform was not Knockout or Lord Megatron. It looked too serious for Knockout but it looked too calm for Lord Megatron. But, between Astrotrain and Shockwave, I wasn't quite sure who it was.

Whoever it was walked right past me and reached a hand out to grab Lizzie's flying fist and, in a few movements, threw her to the ground and held her there. Her breaths came out in short, erratic bursts but I could tell that she was slowly calming down. "Lizzie, Lord Megatron does not like you wasting time with this meaningless thrashing and told me to inform you that this farce that you are showing is wasting time that could be used in other ways." So it was Shockwave. That was a relief. I didn't want Astrotrain to confront Lizzie now.

It was weird though. Lizzie had been fine earlier this solar. Maybe it was being confronted with an opportunity to fight that pushed her? I needed to get better at reading humans.

After a few clicks of Shockwave pinning Lizzie to the floor, she finally seemed calmed down so Shockwave let up and Lizzie stood before turning to the strategist. "My apologies for the waste, Shockwave, and please extend my apologies to Lord Megatron for me." She then glanced at me and smiled. "Sorry about that Sky. Can we pick up again tomorrow?"

I didn't like seeing Lizzie upset so I immediately found myself nodding. "Sure. You should probably hit the washracks." We had just finished setting up a human-sized section of the washracks attached to this training room for her use since she would be training in here more often, aside from her strategist work.

In turn, she nodded before walking toward the entrance to said washracks. Once she was gone, I turned to ask Shockwave something only to find that he was gone. Where did he go?

It didn't matter. I needed to talk with somebot about this and I knew that Starscream would probably be best for that. So, once I returned to my actual chassis, I walked toward medbay while getting on my comm. "Skyquake to Starscream, where are you at?"

It didn't take long for Starscream to respond to me. _"Med bay with Thundercracker and Hook. We were out scouting when T.C. hit the side of the canyon we were flying through due to a surprise wind gust and reopened some of the welds that Hook did after the incident in Siberia. Why?"_

"I'm worried about Lizzie. Need to talk to you about it." I responded as I turned into the hall that housed medbay.

As I approached the door to medbay, Starscream's response was immediate. " _What's wrong with Lizzie?"_ I could hear the worry in his tone of voice and I knew that he was the right person to come to talk about this with.

Instead of answering Starscream on the comm, though, I opened the door to med bay and walked in to him, along with Hook and Thundercracker, looking toward me before I answered him. "She's lashing out. I think that her recent experience with Astrotrain is responsible."

Hook nodded at that and leaned against the medberth that Thundercracker was sitting up from. "I noticed she seemed a little...jumpy when we were scanning her bruises. Plus, she had seemed ashamed that we had seen the bruises. That might cause her to panic since she has only just recently joined our ranks."

Starscream nodded but he was looking at me like he couldn't figure something out. "That much is obvious to anybot Skyquake, but what brought you down here?"

Knowing that I just had to get the information out there, I did just that. "This situation is now worse because Lord Megatron knows that Lizzie is having this panic."

"How? Lizzie hasn't shown much of it since then," Thundercracker started before he stared at me with a hard look. "Or has she?"

I could only nod at his inquiry before explaining what happened earlier in more detail. "I was in the training room working with Lizzie in my soliform. She was attacking in an instinctual way and wasn't listening to what I was teaching her. She was just lashing out, probably due to this panic. I didn't realize that Lord Megatron had been watching until Shockwave came into the room in his soliform and took Lizzie to the floor on orders from Lord Megatron for her to stop wasting time."

Their looks grew solemn as I told them that information and they now seemed to understand what sort of predicament I was having with Lizzie. "This is a problem." Starscream commented in a not very helpful way.

"I want to help her," Hook started. "But human mentality, while similar to our own, has some different quirks about it that I have noticed with Lizzie and her interactions around us. I wouldn't know how to address her in a way that would help her calm down."

That was a big problem that we had. While Lizzie had seemed to become used to being around us and picked up on how to talk to us rather quickly, we did not have the same knowledge boost when speaking about how to talk with her...especially in these situations. "Just as long as she doesn't do anything crazy before she can get her head back on straight then we should be alright."

As soon as I finished that thought, though, I jumped when a pop suddenly sounded in the air as Skywarp appeared in the room with the twins hanging onto his shoulders. While Skywarp appearing in a room with the twins wasn't something that was out of the usual, normally, the fact that they all looked panicked was not helping my feeling about whatever they were about to drop on us.

"You need to get to the training room now!" Skywarp got out in a panicked voice.

Starscream ran up to his brother and put a servo on his helm to calm him down since the twins were on Skywarp's shoulders. "Calm down for a click 'Warp. Why do we need to get to the training room?"

It was Frenzy, though, who answered the question...and made my spark stop at the same time. "Lizzie is fighting Astrotrain's soliform!"

...Slag! I don't know how that happened since Lizzie was supposed to be washing up after our training session, but we needed to get to that room quickly. Something we all seemed to agree on was that Astrotrain seemed to be one of the major stressors that were causing this breakdown in Lizzie's focus. Who knew what sort of damage would be done with this confrontation between the two of them?

But, we couldn't just activate our soliforms to the room. As we ran to the viewing area, where most of us would leave our chassis when entering the room with Lizzie, I thought on why that was. The soliform program worked the best when activated as close to the chassis as possible. While we all wanted to get to the room now and stop the fight, we needed our soliforms to be the most functional to stop the fight. If we would have activated our soliforms in medbay, they would only be as useful as holograms against Astrotrain and Lizzie.

When we all finally entered the viewing area, however, we all stopped when we saw that, along with Skywarp and the twins since they had warped back to the room, was Soundwave, Shockwave, and Lord Megatron. What...what was going on? They were obviously aware that Lizzie and Astrotrain were fighting but they were just watching?

"My Lord…?" Starscream started cautiously. I couldn't blame the seeker. This wasn't the average situation. This normally wouldn't be a good idea but if that was the case now then either Shockwave or Soundwave would have stopped this a while ago by explaining the logic behind keeping Lizzie out of Astrotrain's reach...even his soliform's reach.

"You wish to know why I would allow two of my troops to fight each other in such a way?" Lord Megatron finished Starscream's question with a look at him.

That look alone seemed to make Starscream even more nervous but he gave a nod in response. "Yes, my Lord. It seems counter-productive."

"At first, it does seem that way." Lord Megatron started as he glanced down at the training field, where Astrotrain and Lizzie were going at it. As I watched them behind the glass, I realized that Lizzie was a lot more focused than she was during our training session. "However, I am sure that you all have noticed the change in Lizzie's attitude due to a few recent events. What better way to bring her mind back into focus than to have her have the chance to face off against one of the factors of her problem?"

At first, I wanted to argue that. Astrotrain would not hesitate in killing Lizzie given the opportunity and this was a large opportunity for him to do so and not get into trouble. Human bodies had a number of key locations where, hit just right, could kill them. Most of us knew not to hit there and made sure that our training did not get intense enough to cause us to accidentally hit them. But, Astrotrain was not a fan of Lizzie and, as I watched, he seemed to be, at times, even aiming at those spots.

But, what caused me to hesitate was Lizzie herself. She seemed extremely focused on the battle in front of her and, while she obviously would get hit from time to time, did not hesitate in returning blows that he was giving to her back to him. This was a highly aggressive form of battle that none of us had seen in her training before.

"Enough!" We all flinched, even the two fighting below, when Lord Megatron finally interrupted the two fighters after both had landed particularly hard blows against each other. Both looked up to Lord Megatron, though Astrotrain looked upset that he was being interrupted in what he probably saw as a once in an existence opportunity. "I think both of you have made your point. Astrotrain, you are to go on patrol immediately." He then turned his gaze toward Lizzie. "And you Lizzie, you are to get cleaned up and report to Hook. There are medical files that you are to familiarize yourself with that he will show you." He then turned and we all stayed quiet as he walked away, followed by Soundwave and Shockwave.

Once he was out of the room, I didn't waste a nano in leaving my body as I activated my soliform down on the fighting floor. It was a good thing I did too, and that I was not alone as, when Starscream, Thundercracker, Hook, Skywarp, and the twins appeared in soliform by Lizzie as Astrotrain's soliform had started to lunge at Lizzie. Astrotrain's soliform was a darker tone than Lizzie's and he brought over his red eyes from his actual form. He wore silver pants with a purple shirt and a black and purple long coat. On his human feet, he wore black heavy-grade boots. Guess he didn't get the memo about humans heating up after exercise...burning up something called 'calories'...I think.

Lizzie, in opposition, was wearing shorts and a tight t-shirt with tennis shoes. When we had first started our training together, I had asked her why she wore something that fit so close to her body and little protection from blows. She said that wearing what she did allowed for more free movement and the tighter shirt made it harder for her opponent to get a hold of it to use against her.

At our sudden appearance, Astrotrain hesitated and took in the field around him. True, we didn't have Blitzwing's soliforms to help out but, with five of us average sized Decepticons standing between him and Lizzie, and the twins acting as the last line, we were enough to cause the bot to hesitate. Ture, in his normal chassis he would have had the advantage on us. But, being human put us on different terms. The only Decepticon in here that had any sort of advantage, ironically enough, was Lizzie herself. Being the Decepticon with the most experience in being human was something that she could use well.

"Heh, need all of these glitches to protect yourself, little human?" Astrotrain taunted Lizzie as the two continued to glare at each other.

"Not my fault that bots actually like me Astrotrain. Maybe you could work on that loose glossa of yours and bots wouldn't want to pound your faceplate in." Lizzie shot right back at the triple changer who was currently in human form.

He growled at her but, after he glanced around the room again, he simply shook his head before he disappeared. After a few nanos, I heard the sound of heavy pedesteps and the far door of the washracks open. Once I heard the sound of them close again, I turned to look at Lizzie.

It seemed all of us soliforms had the same idea as we were all looking at Lizzie.

Lizzie, on her part, seemed almost amused at how we were looking at her. "What's with the looks bots?"

Starscream did not hesitate to answer that. "What's with these looks is that Astrotrain could have offlined you and you are acting more relaxed than you've been all solar!"

"Yeah, why did you agree to fight Astrotrain? Even in soliform, triple changers are dangerous." Skywarp added onto that.

What none of us were expecting was for Lizzie to laugh at that before she shook her head and started to make her way to the washracks. "First off, of course, Astrotrain could have offlined me. When you are human, you accept that you aren't going to be living for a long time... by your standards, and are more willing to accept death when it approaches. I'm not going to shirk away from Astrotrain just because he has a problem with me." She then paused at the washrack doors before she turned to look back at us. "Second, who said that I was told to fight him?"

We all stared at her in confusion at that one before Thundercracker spoke. "What the frag do you mean by that Lizzie?"

The human Decepticon gave a smirk at that which, to my offlining solar looked way too conniving for her, before she answered me. "Astrotrain wasn't the one to challenge me, and Lord Megatron didn't order me to spar with him." She then paused and that smirk grew wider. "I don't like having problems with how I go about things. So, when Astrotrain showed up here after you left, Skyquake, with permission from Lord Megatron I challenged him." The human then walked into the washracks and closed the door behind her.

There was silence among the seven of us as we stared at the door that Lizzie just walked through. She...she challenged a triple changer to a battle...That…that was complete,

I flinched as Starscream's soliform walked up to the door and hit it. "Lizzie Val you can't just challenge a triple changer like that!"

* * *

 **Starscream: *glares at Lizzie* You idiot. You would think that you would know better than to mess with Astrotrain.**

 **Lizzie: *drying off wet hair* What? the inability to defend myself was causing me to start to break down mentally at the insecurity and that was a problem that I could fix. It was easy enough to convince the idiot to fight with me. I was surprised that Lord Megatron gave his permission for the fight so quickly. But, I'm not going to complain. I feel better and I feel like I'm ready to take on any challenge that tries to kill me. *laughs***

 **Authoress: *snorts knowingly* Right. You haven't seen next chapter yet.**

 **Lizzie: ...Huh?**

 **Authoress: *evil laughter***

 **Starscream: *annoyed* You need to stop doing that!**

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next exciting chapter of this story! I hope you all enjoyed that! I had a lot of fun writing this, even with the changes, and I hope you enjoyed reading it! However, I feel like I do need to explain what happened in this chapter. I explained it sporadically in the chapter but Lizzie, having been completely victorious last chapter against MECH and, now, completely helpless against Astrotrain here at the beginning of this chapter, caused Lizzie to feel like she had to push herself harder and faster, without really thinking about what she was improving. Both the victory from last chapter and the loss from this one caused Lizzie to have a sort of panic attack, though her's was vented out physically. So, she needed a way to overcome this panic and she realized, when Astrotrain entered the washracks while she was there, that fighting him while he was in his soliform, and she was not in her armor, would be the best way for her to get around that little roadblock.**

 **...Yes, it was filler but I did through in some small hints about what is to come.**

 **Anyways, now that I have explained myself, time for my overview of the chapter. With Paul, despite a few things changing, his luck seems to have gone up for this chapter, though he is suspicious of it. Is this new luck a sign of things to come? Plus, he seems worried about Airachnid. how big of a part is she going to play in the future of this story?**

 **Back to Lizzie, first we got to see the twins exact their revenge on her, in making her a necklace for the resident insane triple changer. Luckily, this allowed Lizzie to learn about Blitzwings induction into the Decepticon and Blitzwing got to learn some stuff about Lizzie. But, I bet those bruises aren't going to be as easy to ignore as Lizzie thinks. Then, we got to see Lizzie kick aft against Astrotrain and that seemed to get her some credit back with M...Lord Megatron after her little slip up earlier in the chapter.**

 **Of course, Lizzie used her strategist training to self-diagnose herself and was able to logically come up with a 'treatment' for this panic. Probably earned her some more credit with Soundwave and Shockwave.**

 **Plus, some things were revealed during Lord Megatron's point of view that are important...like a certain relic that I "failed" to identify for you all. XD**

 **...and then we have over-protective 'Scream *ducks to avoid narrow object as said seeker yells that is not his designation* yelling at Lizzie there at the end. I wanted to end this chapter on a light note.**

 **So, that's all for this chapter. Next chapter, which was originally Metal Attraction, is going to have a little more insight into the bots and maybe we will get some more insight about Zarron? Not sure but we will definitely see some of him in the next chapter. Plus, Lizzie might just have gotten over one obstacle to...well...we shall see next chapter! So, you'll have to tune in next time to find out.**

 **Now, that's all of the recap of what has passed and the sneak peek into what is to come. here are the names of the next chapters. In italics, I have put the name of the episode that the chapters are following...or in this case just glancing at and laughing at. Of course, these names might not tell you diddly-squat about what will be in them. So, make sure you strap yourselves in for continuing this ride!**

 **Chapter 18: The Itsy Bitsy Spider _Metal Attraction_**

 **Chapter 19: Danger Keep Out _Rock Bottom_**

 **Chapter 20:...(Silly readers, you'll have to just find this out next time.)**

 **Well, that's all for now. Please review, say hi, send mon...love. I totally was going to say love...right?...*shakes head*Anyways, until next time, TTYL! *listening to Oklahoma!***


	19. The Itsy Bitsy Spider

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

* * *

 **Authoress: Well, this certainly took some time.**

 **Lizzie: Yeah, why is that?**

 **Authoress: *sheepishly* Well, I'm kinda excited for what future chapters hold so it is hard to get through this one.**

 **Lizzie: Really? You do know that you can't get to those future chapters until you...*realizes something* Wait...what has you so excited for those future...*turns and sees Authoress gone* Authoress get back here!**

* * *

Chapter 18: The Itsy Bitsy Spider

 **Paul's 1st P.O.V.**

"You know, this is getting kinda sad Paul." Miko teased me as we sat in the human area. Jack had work and Raf had a study group for a class that he didn't have with Miko. They were going to be coming later with...her. Who was her? Well, she was, "You've been hiding from Mrs. Darby for all four days since she found out about everything."

...Yep, June was coming by later.

Now, don't get me wrong, June is a great person. But, I couldn't forget one of the first things that she told to me after the whole we-saved-her-from-Airachnid incident. Well, it was more of she yelled at me because I was an adult and how could I allow the kids to be let into dangerous situations like they faced before she figured everything out. Seriously, I felt like I was a teenage boy getting a lecture from his parent instead of a deity. And that wasn't the only time that she had gotten on my case. Some little jabbermouth, though I hadn't quite figured out who that was yet, had spilled to her the times that I had actually suggested that a kid come with me, mainly Miko, on these adventures with the bots.

Oh boy did I get it that time.

But, there was something that Miko said that I wanted to get cleared up quickly. "I am not hiding from June. As an adult, I feel like it is best if we give each other some space. June is obviously not happy with me about the decisions I have made at base concerning you three and so it would be for the best to give her some space."

"Right." Miko snorted in a disbelieving way. "And Bulkhead doesn't scream like a girl around scraplets. It's funny how the ancient deity is afraid of a single mom who is barely a sliver of his own age."

I shot the girl a look but shook my head. Seriously, I was not hiding from June. There would be no reason for me to hide from her. We were both adults and, as adults, we were able to discuss our differences in a civil manner. We could show the kids that the two of us could work out our differences without fighting or one side surrendering.

Speaking about differences, though, I felt my eyes cast to the shifty trio, which I started calling Pitch, Flamewar, and Sentinel Major. Lately, those training exercises were getting more intense, and sometimes if I was only facing one at first, the others would pop in unexpectedly. It was getting almost dangerous to practice training with those three...especially alone.

Thankfully, though I wasn't sure why in the case of one bot, I usually wasn't alone against the three of them. Lately, Cliffjumper and Zarron had been joining me more often during the training sessions. I knew why Cliffjumper was helping me, since he was my guardian and all. However, the full reason why Zarron was helping me was still out of reach. He was a good and well trained cybertronian but he seemed more the lone cyberwolf type than the type to help me with training against those three.

"Wheeljack I need you back in the field investigation odd magnetic disturbance." Ratchet suddenly spoke, pulling me for my thoughts.

Wheeljack, who had gotten back from patrol 10 minutes ago, looked up as Ratchet spoke to him. "No problem doc." He then looked around the room at the bots gathered, which consisted of Chromia, Sentinel Major, Zarron, Blaster, and Flamewar. Chromia and Blaster we're going over recent scouting logs while Sentinel Major and Flamewar seem to be discussing something in the corner. So, that left only one bot in the room that Wheeljack would probably take with him. "Hey Zarron, want to come with me to check this out?"

The scout, who looked like he had been started out of his thoughts, looked toward Wheeljack for a moment before nodding and walking over. "Sure as long as we're not out too late. I'm expecting a long-distance message tonight and I do not want to miss it."

What was he talking about a long-distance message? Did any of the others know about this message? And who was it going to be from? There was no possible way for me to figure out who Zarron could be contacting and that bothered me more than I cared to admit. However, maybe I could learn more about Zarron if Miko and I went with them. "Hey, if this is just a scouting mission can Miko and I come along? It seems like it has been forever since we've been allowed to leave with you bots."

The two lone cyberwolf cybertronians glanced over at us before Wheeljack nodded. "Don't see why not. This won't take that long and we can watch you two pretty well." He then looked over at Ratchet. "Okay doc, you can open the bridge now. We'll be back before you know it."

Ratchet, in turn, threw Wheeljack a look before walking to the groundbridge controls and saying, "My name's not doc, it is Ratchet." He then activated the groundbridge.

The moment the bridge opened I flinched as I heard the sound of a car engine entering the base. As the four of us quickly made our way into the bridge, I watched as June's station wagon pulled into base. That was too close for comfort.

Once we exited the bridge, I noticed that we were in a desert-like terrain and the path in front of us look to be on an incline. Great. Well, at least it was going to be better than being at base with June. As the four of us started to climb, Miko tugged on my sleeve. "Paul, this looks a lot like that episode called Metal Attraction. Isn't Bulkhead supposed to be here with Arcee?"

That's right! I have been so wrapped up in my worry about...giving June her space, that I didn't realize that we were on Metal Attraction. So, hopefully Airachnid would still show up and caused the interference that we needed her to cause. However, even I was going to be in the dark about which bot from the Nemesis would be here during the situation. I wasn't sure if Breakdown had been rescued from MECH and that meant that his spot in this episode was now open.

The sound of rocks falling slightly cause all of us to look up. However, Zarron completely overreacted to the situation and pretty much panicked while taking out his blasters. What was that about? When Zarron had first got here on Earth, he had been so calm and collected about everything that was around him. Nothing seemed capable of even phasing the bot slightly before and now he was jumping with blasters out at a little rubble falling.

Now that I thought about it, this new on edge attitude seemed to have started after the Russia mission. He had given us his full report, but who is to say that his report was the complete report? Zarron was the first one to wake up after the two of them were knocked out by the Decepticons in Russia. Maybe something more had happened after he woke up and he didn't report it. Something was definitely going on with the motorcycle mech and hopefully, I will be able to find out what that was.

"You okay there? Just some…" Wheeljack started but the sounds of distant metal clanging against each other caused him to be quiet.

The four of us move to the ledge and I felt my eyes widen Surprise when I glanced at the scene playing out before us. Airachnid was down there fighting as she should be but it was her opponent that caused me some surprise. That opponent was Breakdown! I knew that he was supposed to be the one fighting her, but I hadn't realized that he'd been able to get away from MECH. That was a huge burden off of my shoulders, though I wasn't sure how it happened. Now I just had to hope the rest of the episode would play out even though Wheeljack and Zarron were here instead of Bulkhead and Arcee.

 **Wheeljack's 1st P.O.V**

I let out a grunt as my sword clashed with Breakdown's hammer. I hadn't expected to run into Decepticons while investigating this magnetic disturbance that Hatchet had picked up but I wasn't complaining. It had been too long since I had last been able to face some Decepticons and I was feeling a bit rusty. Hope Bulk wouldn't mind me facing off against Breakdown.

When Breakdown and I ended up locked together, blade against hammer, I decided to do some digging. "So, what happened when you were in Russia big bot? Seems odd that you let two Autobots get away from you." I wanted to find out what had happened. Hopefully, that would help explain why Zarron was acting the way that he was.

I could tell that most of the bots at base, and even the humans, seemed to be weary of Zarron. He, along with Pitch, Sentinel Major, and Flamewar kept to themselves for the most part, outside of training, and none of us knew much about them. From what I saw around base, I was pretty sure that, outside of me, Cliffjumper was the only other bot who trusted Zarron really well. Honestly though, that was probably only because Zarron was helping keep an optic on Paul during his training work with the other three mystery bots.

"You just better hope that the same luck happens to you Autobot." Breakdown shot back before he swung at me. I blocked it with a little difficulty before Breakdown continued to speak. "Fragging took me and," Well, it was more of a mumble and the big lug was able to stop himself before he said more.

But, that little slip up did tell me something about the incident in Russia...though not much. "What do you mean by that?" I tried to push him for information. "Who took you?" Maybe they were the ones who took his optic?

However, it didn't look like I was going to be getting any more answers out of him as he got in a lucky hit and I went sprawling out of the way. Thankfully, however, Zarron was able to land a hit on Airachnid that sent the hunter femme flying into Breakdown and caused both of them to hit the canyon wall. The two-wheeler then came and stood next to me, a hard look in his optics along with another kind of look that I couldn't identify. What happened during his fight with the bug?

"Thank you." I turned at the mumbling of Breakdown and felt slightly worried when I saw that he was holding the device that both he and Airachnid had just been fighting over.

As he activated it, Airachnid looked slightly panicked. "Do you even know what that does?" It was then that I noticed she had a fresh new scrape across the right side of her faceplate, probably courtesy of Zarron. "It isn't a toy!" Airachnid continued worriedly. She then started to scramble out of the area.

To my surprise, Zarron was after her rather quickly with his swords out. But, the mech reached the spider femme just as she had dug away from the fighting. What was that thing in Breakdown's servo? Oh well, better get it away from him. Taking out my swords, I made a step toward him.

What I wasn't ready for was for the device, when pointed at me, to start dragging me toward Breakdown against my own free will. What the frag was going on? "It's a polarity gauntlet!" Zarron yelled as his lighter chassis was dragged through the air and toward Breakdown.

Almost as soon as he finished that, the two of us were raised in the air and I could only watch as Breakdown smirked and looked down at the device. "What's this switch do?" I felt my optics widen and, before I could say a word, we were flung away from Breakdown and the polarity gauntlet and toward the cliffside. I saw Breakdown smirking with the gauntlet in his servo before I felt my backplates hit something hard before my lights went out.

I must not have been out long because I heard the faint sounds of a motor driving off and the sound of light pedesteps. Since the pedesteps sounded too light to be any Cybertronian, I figured that they were Miko and Paul. Just in case the Decepticons decided to come back, I knew that I had to online my optics again. So, I did so and the first thing that I noticed was that Zarron was not in sight.

"Wheeljack!" Miko spoke in urgency. "The 'Cons are getting away!" I let out a groan as I tried to sit up, though for some reason I felt more weight on my back than normal. "Hey!" I looked back down at Miko as she looked at something on my leg before she spoke. "My phone!"

Paul then tried to help Miko pull her phone off of my leg before he said with frustration. "It's stuck on here."

Continuing to look around and not seeing Zarron, I finally asked the question that was on my processor. "Where's Zarron?" My processor still felt fuzzy from the impact and...by Primus what was that weight on my back?

"Ugh, why don't you just," Miko started to complain.

Of course, I wouldn't get to hear the rest of her complaint as a voice suddenly caused me to jump. "I'm right behind you." It was Zarron.

Was I trapping him? So, I stood up quickly and tried to look around better. "Where are you at Zarron?"

Instead of the motorcycle mech answering me, however, it was Paul, who was looking behind my back plates along with Miko. "Well, let's just say that Zarron has your back...literally."

"What do you…" I started as a tried to turn. But, it was at that click that I suddenly realized what Paul and the others were talking about. There was a very logical reason that I couldn't see Zarron. He was seemingly stuck to my backplates. I think that I was more surprised that Zarron was so light. I didn't expect him, even as a two-wheeler, to be this light. He was larger than Arcee slightly and while it was dangerous to guess a femme's weight I had thought her lighter than Zarron...but I was almost positive she was not this light.

I felt Zarron struggling against my backplates for a few clicks before he seemed to sigh in defeat. "No use." He growled that in slight anger and irritation. He seemed extremely angered at us being stuck together.

But, I didn't want to get into that mess until we got the humans back to the safety of the base. "Ratchet, you there?" I started on the comm.

" _Yes, and I am in the middle of some important work. You and Zarron can't possibly be finished with your scouting already?"_ Ratchet responded.

"Not quite Hatchet." I responded and, before he could get angry at the nickname, explained our situation. "Zarron and I have kinda been...magnetized together."

There was a slight pause on Ratchet's end of the line before he continued. " _You've been magnetized together?!"_

Miko, who was pulling on Zarron's pede, must have heard Ratchet because she responded to him. "They're inseparable."

Zarron let out another annoyed sigh before I continued to report to Ratchet, though I put my comm receiver on speaker so the others could hear as well. "Yeah, and Breakdown has taken the device that did this to us and it is on its way to Megatron."

" _A polarity gauntlet."_ Ratchet confirmed what Zarron had yelled out during the fight. So, he had been right.

I didn't say anything, though, as Blaster picked up where Hatchet left off. " _It's so simple yet so dangerous to us."_

However, it seemed like Zarron was more impatient than I gave him credit for because he suddenly let out a huff before saying, "By all that is good in the galaxies just tell me that you can unhitch us...and in a timely manner."

What was his deal? The once calm and collected mech now seemed impatient and inexperienced. there is something going on and I needed to find out what that was and quickly. Zarron seemed like a good mech, but something was messing with him.

Ratchet didn't answer in a very enthusiastic tone, _"It may simply be a residual magnetic charge providing your current….attraction."_

While the answer sounded positive, I could hear the 'but' in his response. "But what?" Zarron asked tentatively.

" _But, I'm afraid retrieving the gauntlet is our surest bet for reversing its effect."_

"Scrap!" Zarron hissed from behind me.

I wasn't exactly thrilled with this news either. If Breakdown was able to get that thing back to Megatron…

" _Once Megatron gets his hands on the gauntlet He'll use it for a whole lot more than attaching notes and family photos to the fridge."_ Jack started from the other side of the line.

" _Jack, I'm not following."_ And that was Jack's mom, who I was pretty sure was the reason that Paul was hiding with us on patrol.

So, I figured I would answer her. "Listen, we're forged out of metal. If the 'Cons could force us back with the flick of a wrist, we might never be able to win this war."

" _Instant force field."_ And that was the youngest human at base, Raf.

" _Worse yet, he might use it to meld us all into a scrap pile."_ Blaster added with a worried tone. I knew that the mech was worried about Eject and Rewind the most.

Thankfully, Hatchet had some good news in all of this. _"The good news is, the gauntlet hasn't traveled far. I would strongly advise pursuit."_

I knew that the fastest way for us to catch up to Breakdown and the gauntlet was to drive. "We can catch up faster on wheels." I then prepared to transform.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Zarron started in a panic. "And snap me in half? How about not."

"Right." Oops. Kinda forgot that he was stuck there.

"Sweet! I'll take point." Miko exclaimed excitedly. Paul looked amused at her outburst and slightly hopeful. But, I was going to have to burst that excitement.

"Not this time you two. We better send you two back quickly." I tried to ease into it.

"What? But can't you two," Paul started to argue to my surprise.

"That was recon, this is war!" Zarron snapped at them, though he couldn't see them. "I'm not risking your well-being just so you can hit your daily adrenaline quotas. Now you two are going to walk through the bridge without any more arguing." He then talked into the comm. "Ratchet, Miko and Paul need a bridge."

I heard Ratchet's response over the comm. "Coming up."

Instead of arguing, like I expected, Paul nodded and motioned Miko toward the open bridge before he turned and looked back at us. "Good luck."

I nodded as the two entered the bridge and the vortex closed. The two of us then moved in the direction that Breakdown had run toward.

Trying to keep it light, I let out a chuckle before saying, "You know, I never had eyes in the back of my helm before...or blasters to cover my rear…" When he didn't respond right away, I tried to give one of his benefits. "...and you get a built-in shield."

"Turn off your comlink." Zarron suddenly demanded.

"What do you mean? I think that we need to have a little chat." Okay, I needed to figure out what was wrong with Zarron. First, he was acting harsh and very distrusting, and now here he was making demands like he was in charge of everything.

"Which is exactly why I need you to turn off your comlink." he responded back.

Well, while I didn't want to listen to him, I figured that doing what he said, for now, would get me closer to the answers I wanted. So, I did as he asked and turned off my comlink before saying, "Okay, I turned off my comlink. What do you,"

"Hang on Wheeljack. I don't have much time to say what I want to say before we get to our destination." Zarron interrupted me quickly. "I have a feeling about what you are going to ask. But, I need you to promise me first that you will not repeat anything that I have to say to any of the other Autobots."

This was sounding dangerous but, since I wasn't the biggest fan of authority, I figured I would agree unless he said he was some Decepticon assassin. "Deal."

Zarron stayed silent for a nano before finally sighing. "Alright then. First order of business, I am assuming you wish to know what my true purpose is here on Earth?"

"Sounds like a fair place to start." I responded to him.

So, he started. "Well to explain why I'm here I have to tell you what it is I do. I am a scout by trade, however other Autobots sometimes contact me in hopes I can investigate situations for them."

"What kind of investigations? I asked. This had been the most open that Zarron had been with anybot so I was trying to get as much information out of him as possible.

"Think of my work as a sort of internal affairs. When a bot feels that something is not right within the faction itself I am one of the bots that they hire to investigate these situations to find out if they truly have merit." Zarron responded to that.

But that still left something open. "So why are you here on Earth?"

He seemed slightly hesitant before saying, "Not long ago I was hired by... A close friend, to investigate a situation arising that they had heard rumors about. Rumors, about the Autobot faction itself starting to fall into darkness. However, my friend was not sure how many Autobots were falling. All that they did know, however, was that these Bots were either already present or would soon be present on the planet known as Earth. So, through contacts, I had heard of a group from Cybertron planning on meeting up with Optimus Prime and his team on Earth. With that knowledge, I made my way to Cybertron and introduced myself to Springer."

That sounded dark and almost unbelievable. But, then I thought about how Sentinel and Pitch acted and then everything Zarron was saying seemed more believable. "So, have you made any positive matches for your search?"

"If you mean have I found any Autobots here who have fallen, the answer is not yet." He responded to me before continuing. "And unfortunately, there are very few of the Autobots at base who I have officially ruled out as having fallen into darkness. They are you and Cliffjumper."

That was it? After over a month of being on Earth this mech could only eliminate myself and Cliffjumper? This investigation must be pretty serious if he was taking this much time looking into each Autobot. There were a couple things, however, that I still wanted to find out from him. "Well, thanks for that. But my next question is this; when you were in Russia with Bulkhead, did you immediately call base after you woke up?"

He seemed less hesitant with his answer this time. "No, but it was not long after I woke up that I called the base. I took the time to send a high frequency message to my friend asking about how the mission was progressing. Last night, I received a high-frequency message from my friend saying that they wished to contact me over a secured com-line tonight at 2200 hours. So, you now see why it is important that we become unseparated as soon as possible. While I trust you and I have eliminated you from the list of suspect Autobots, I need to keep my friend's identity confidential until they say otherwise."

I could hear the worried tone in his vocals at that last part so I decided to let those kinds of questions drop. However, I was curious about something else that might not be connected to that. "Okay, so what's been with your jumpy attitude lately? Freaking out over rubble falling, snapping at Paul and Miko like you did; what has you so on edge now if you aren't sure if any of the bots at base have fallen?"

This time, Zarron stayed quiet for a few clicks before he spoke. "It...it's been a few things. The rubble, that was because of the training I've been doing. It has put me on edge. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will see that I am not so moved by that again."

Well, that sounded weird. What did training have to do with why he was almost paranoid about the rubble falling? But, I wanted to know the other half of that answer so I let that slide for now. "And about Paul and Miko?"

"I…" Zarron hesitated for a click before he leaned his helm back. "Well, let's just say that I have a friend who was on the wrong side of that spider and I knew that we couldn't let them stay with us...no matter how harsh I had to be."

Okay, that made sense and I knew not to push him further on that. Wartime conflicts haunted all of us and I had heard that Arcee had a history with the hunter femme as well...and it wasn't a pretty one. If Zarron's friend went through anything that even resembled what Arcee went through, then I could understand why he wanted Paul and Miko out of here.

The sound of beeping coming from the tracer I was using caused me to look down and I felt relief at what it showed. "The gauntlet's close." I informed Zarron before moving into the abandoned gas station. Feeling like something was off, I transformed my servo into its blaster form before continuing on. From behind me, I heard Zarron do the same.

...Wait...he has blasters? That was something I didn't know. The mech had avoided using them up until this point and I thought he might not have them. But, I guess the mech was keeping an ace hidden away for a solar like this solar.

The sound of grunting caused me to stop and point my blasters toward the sound. However, I was surprised that Breakdown was tied up with web against a storage container. From behind him, the bug femme rose from hiding. She had a knowing smirk on her face that I couldn't wait to see blasted off.

"I assume Zarron isn't far behind." Airachnid didn't sound like she was asking a question.

But, I figured I would give her an answer anyways. "You might say that."

She seemed to not be taking any chances. "Blaster servos in the air and turn around."

Internally, I smirked at that. Well, I better do what the femme said. "Whatever you say." I answered her before turning around quickly.

Zarron didn't waste a click and I immediately heard the sounds of blaster fire coming from him and, from the sound of pain that came from Airachnid a few nanos later, I had to say that he shot those blasters pretty accurately. Unfortunately, the sound of the gauntlet activating told me that something must have happened. "Scrap. Wheeljack move!" Zarron yelled at me.

Before I could even try to listen, I felt the magnetic field of the device start to pull me backwards toward the gauntlet. Just as I lost my footing, however, I heard the device turn off. But, I could stop myself from flipping onto my back for a nano, causing Zarron to let out a yelp of pain, before I was able to get back on my pedes. "You alright?" I asked the mech.

His response was immediate. "Don't worry about me. Focus on the Decepticons."

So I did and I saw that Breakdown had stopped in a battle-ready position in front of me. From the sound of light pedesteps stopping behind me, I had a feeling that Airachnid was facing Zarron. "Still up for a truce, muscles?" I heard the bug ask.

Breakdown didn't seem to happy with the response he gave her. "Only because I hate Wreckers more than I hate you." Breakdown then threw a sucker punch that caught my faceplate and I almost stepped back. So, I returned the hit and it landed home.

Breakdown and I continued like this for a servo-full of nanos before I heard Zarron. "Wheeljack, would you please remember that you aren't the only one fighting and stay still?"

"My bad." I apologized to the two-wheeler before I landed a hit on Breakdown that sent him flying. I then turned to face the bug. "Need a servo?" I asked him.

"No, I can handle her. Focus on Breakdown." Zarron responded in the calm way that he normally does. Glad he was already getting back to his old self. He was weird when he was paranoid and angry.

So, I turned back to Breakdown Just in time to see him pointing the polarity gauntlet at us. "Scrap." I muttered right before the piece of human drilling equipment hit my helm and I fell backwards. Frag my helm was hurting.

"Wheeljack, get up!" I vaguely heard Zarron yell. Why did he sound like he was so far away?

I then heard the echo of a femme chuckling darkly. "Pinned like a bug little mech. Reminds me of the same situation I had those friends of yours in." Wait...what was she talking about? My helm hurt too bad and the echoing of her voice wasn't helping.

"Frag it Wheeljack come on! Snap out of it!" Zarron again yelled at me.

As my processor started to clear, I heard the femme continue. "Of course, I can think of one permanent way out of your predicament."

The feeling of Zarron going tense told me that I had to snap out of this haze I was in...and soon.

"I'll take topside." I heard Breakdown say clearly.

And that was the thing I needed to snap out of my haze and I quickly reached up with my right servo and caught Breakdown's hammer. Hurt like the pit to do it but I had to get off of Zarron and getting hit again was not going to help.

Once I threw Breakdown forward using the momentum he built to swing his hammer, I rolled off of Zarron and stood up. To my surprise, Zarron was in front of me. "Hah! I'm free. Thank Primus." The scout sounded very relieved that he was free from my backplates.

Give the situation we were just in, I really couldn't blame him at all. The scout then ran forward at an amazing speed and kicked the gauntlet backwards toward me before he jumped into the air. He seemed to hang there for a click before he came right on Breakdown's backplates and pushed him to the ground before Zarron started to fight him.

So the bug femme wouldn't feel left out, I turned to her and took out my swords. "Want to dance?" I could tell that she was looking at the gauntlet, which was currently right behind me.

"You're not my type." She retorted as I charged at her.

While I knew fighting her was going to be tough, I wasn't ready for the femme to suddenly turn into her hunter mode and try to drill a hole through my chestplate. I got distracted enough so the femme crawled over me. By the time I turned around, Airachnid had the gauntlet active on her servo. "Scrap!" Was all I could say to that.

Airachnid, however, seemed to be done with me. "Let's leave the big mechs to themselves." She smirked before using the gauntlet to pull Zarron closer to her.

I knew that the mech could handle her so I picked up my swords and put them away before charging at Breakdown and I started to swing at him. The two of us kept a steady pace of punches going back and forth until, after a servo-full of clicks, I took out my blaster and hit him in his thick armor so, while it didn't go through, it did throw the big mech into one of the human oil mining equipment.

When Breakdown stood back up, I took out one of my swords and stayed at the ready. He surprised me by firing one of his rockets. Immediately, I went to try and catch it...so I could throw it back at him, when it was suddenly stopped around my servos by a magnetic force. It then deflected toward Breakdown, who put up his arm to block the rocket. However, the rocket was magnetically repulsed away from him and shot into the air before it exploded.

"We can't touch metal." Breakdown figured out. Weird, I didn't think he could think that well.

But, I had to agree with the 'Con. "We're polarized."

The sound of a grunt coming from Zarron had me turn toward him and I was surprised to see Airachnid standing...with the polarity gauntlet! "Always leave on a high note." The hunter femme smirked before she transformed into her helicopter mode and started to fly away.

"Wheeljack, get the gauntlet!" Zarron yelled as the femme flew by him.

Well, all he had to do was ask. Smirking, I jumped into the air and grabbed the tail of Airachnid's helicopter mode before throwing her against Breakdown. The two hit each other hard and fell into a building...destroying it in the process. When the dust settled, I saw that the two of them were unconscious.

Once I was next to Zarron, I put my fist into my servo before saying, "Let's finish this."

"And risk becoming twins again?" Zarron asked me in surprise. "No offense but I have too many things to worry about and being your twin wouldn't help me at all."

Eh, good point.

 **Frenzy's 1st P.O.V.**  
"Take a breath." Thundercracker spoke, being quiet and calm. Of course, given what was going on, it was probably for the best. Lizzie took a breath before Thundercracker continued. "Now….fire." He didn't yell that because he didn't want to make Lizzie jump and miss-fire.

The blaster shot sailed through the air and hit the dummy right on the helm. "Finally! I thought you were never going to hit it!" I let out in an exaggerated complaint.

It had been six cycles since we had started on weapon's training for the solar, since Lizzie got her work done with Shockwave and Soundwave early this solar, and this was the first time that Lizzie had hit the target right where she was supposed to hit it.

Lizzie, in turn, looked at me with an upset look. "Give me a little bit of a break Frenzy. Before this da...solar, I had never even held a blaster. Only taking six cycles to learn how to disassemble and assemble it, as well as fire it, is pretty good in my books."

I noticed Lizzie's slip when she almost used the human word for solar but let it slide. She was really trying to make the grammar switch to use our words in her language and it was hard for her.

Soundwave said not to mess with her when she corrected herself but we were to help her when she said a word in the human language that she spoke...English she called it, that we had a word for in our own language. While it seemed tedious now, it would help Lizzie understand new Decepticons as they came in. We all knew that more of us Decepticons would arrive on Earth and, if Lizzie knew the words that we used instead, she would be able to become familiar with the new Decepticons easier.

"Lizzie is right Frenzy." Terrance Scarlett stated in her defense as well. If one couldn't guess, Terrance was what Thundercracker decided to name his soliform. Since Starscream had already picked out the last name, and since he was Starscream's brother, Thundercracker decided to keep the last name. Anyways… "For never having weapons training before this solar, Lizzie is making progress. I bet if I asked Soundwave for a recording of your first solar of blaster practice neither of you would be much better...if you even were."

Well...there may or may not have been some misunderstandings that solar with a certain scientist and where my blaster shot hit. "Hey, I didn't say anything about her shots!" Rumble complained. "Why am I lumped in with him too?"

Lizzie smirked and shrugged as she helped Thundercracker clean up. "Guilt by association Rumble." He frowned at that before casting me a look.

While a part of me wanted to tease Rumble, Lizzie had just opened herself up for a perfect comeback. "You seem pretty recovered from that little lecture that 'Scream gave you for the training room incident four solars ago Lizzie."

At my taunt, Lizzie froze in her steps and seemed nervous. Not scared though. We had really only seen her scared of Lord Megatron and, according to the boss and Starscream, she had seemed scared of 'Scream when he had first found Lizzie on the ship. "Well," Lizzie started to respond to my retort, though I noticed that she continued to remain nervous. "Starscream brought up some good points about what happened. However, if the situation repeated itself, I would definitely do it again." By the end of that sentence, Lizzie was smiling.

Thundercracker shook his helm and, once everything was cleaned up, he turned off his soliform and returned to his normal form before he put down a servo and waited for the three of us to climb up. Once Rumble and I were on his shoulders, and Lizzie was sitting on his servo, he started to make his way to the rec room.

The reason we were going to the rec room? Well, we had agreed to meet up with Skywarp and Skyquake before they took us to the flight deck and allowed the three of us to watch them perform aerial maneuvers. Their practice was supposed to happen earlier but, when Lizzie slipped that she had no idea how to use a blaster, they all had agreed to postpone their practice until Lizzie had one lesson for the solar under her.

It wasn't long before the four of us were in the rec room, where Skywarp and Skyquake were waiting for us. In the room with them was Blitzwing as well. That threw me for a surprise. I thought that he was supposed to be with Breakdown for servo to servo combat training this solar?

"Hey Blitzwing, why aren't you with Breakdown practicing right now?" Thundercracker asked the triple changer, obviously just as confused as I was.

In return, Blitzwing's helm changed from Random, who had been talking excitedly with Skywarp about something before we walked in, to Icy before he continued. "Lord Megatron order Breakdown to investigate a magnetic disturbance zhat Soundwave detected."

Well, that made sense. Out of the corner of my optic, I saw Lizzie tense slightly at his answer. Guess it didn't take much for her to figure out that anything doing with 'magnet' in its name plus any Cybertronian did not equal good.

But, speaking of Lizzie, I was curious about something. One of the big mysteries surrounding her since she got here was...well...how she got here. I knew that both boss bot and Shockwave had been looking into that whenever they could. Maybe Lizzie had remembered something that could help. "Hey Lizzie," She turned to me, a curious look to her, before I continued. "Have you remembered anything from how you ended up on the Nemesis?"

We all paused and looked down at Lizzie, who seemed to pause for a click. She seemed to really be thinking about it. We all seemed to be on edge as we waited for her answer. Unfortunately, after a click, she shook her head. "Sorry mechs. I honestly have no idea how I ended up on the Nemesis."

Well scrap. I was hoping for a miracle but I guess it wasn't meant to be yet. Boss bot did say that humans had sensitive cerebral cores and that trauma could actually permanently erase a human's memories. While we were all hoping that wasn't the case with whatever happened with Lizzie, and that she would remember something, we knew that there was a chance that the memory was gone forever.

"Now I have a question for you mechs." Lizzie started and so we all paid attention as she spoke. "Have you mechs ever used your soliforms to explore Earth?"

Well, I never did. Only used it for pick up errands that Rumble and I needed for our pranks. So, I was about to answer her that when I got a message from Soundwave. _"Frenzy, is Lizzie with you?"_

Did Lizzie have to report for work already? I thought she was finished for the solar. _"Yeah boss. I'm here with Rumble, Blitzwing, Skyquake, Skywarp, and T.C."_ Figured it would be best to let the boss know who was here with me just in case. Boss did like to know stuff...even though he probably already knew who was with me. He was probably looking at us through the security cameras right now.

Everybot seemed to be thinking about how they were going to answer Lizzie as Soundwave continued to talk to me through our link. " _Have Lizzie brought to the bridge. Breakdown should be returning soon and Lizzie should be here when he does. If he has brought back whatever was causing the disturbance, then she will need to know about it. I do not care who among the others come along."_

" _Sure thing boss bot."_ I responded to him before he turned off the link between us. Once that was done, I turned to the others and spoke before any of us had answered Lizzie. "Sorry Lizzie but it looks like that answer will have to wait. Soundwave says he wants you on the bridge with him. Breakdown should be coming back soon and boss bot thinks that you should be on the bridge when he does."

Lizzie nodded at that and seemed content that she wasn't getting an answer to her question yet. Skywarp looked at me before shaking his helm. "I think I'll stay here and talk with Blitz some more. Random was just telling me about a great idea he had."

So, that was two out of the six of us mechs here. Skyquake took a step forward and nodded. "I'll shall come to the bridge with you. There is some information that I would like to research." Wonder what that was about? Oh well, boss bot would probably tell me later. He knew what everybot did on the monitors.

Rumble smirked. "I better go to the bridge with you Frenzy. If Astrotrain is there, one of us has to act good and I bet it won't be you."

While a part of me wanted to argue with Rumble, T.C. going to talk stopped that. "I'll bring you three to the bridge with Skyquake. I have to speak with Starscream on some matters anyways and I have little doubt that he will be there."

So, with everybot decided what they were doing, I stayed on T.C.'s shoulder as he moved out of the rec room with Skyquake right behind us. Taking a glance at Lizzie, I saw that she was worried. But...why? She was a Decepticon and she wasn't in trouble with Lord Megatron. So what could she be worried about?

 **Lizzie's 1st P.O.V.**

I was worried. It was strange but it was true. One would think that, after solidifying my place among the Decepticons and staying out of trouble, I wouldn't have much to worry about. But, I was worried...and not for something usual. Even though I had turned away from Paul and pretty much abandoned his mission, I still felt a sort of loyalty to the god and that was what was causing me to worry now.

Before I became a full-fledged Decepticon, I had no issue in keeping information to myself around the bots on the Nemesis. If they asked me something about how I got here, I had no qualms about stretching the truth. I honestly didn't know how I ended up on the Nemesis. So, when Frenzy asked me if I had remembered anything about how I had arrived on the Nemesis, I had been able to honestly answer him.

But, I felt guilty. I know, I should have no reason to feel guilty about keeping information that could not be verified to myself. But I was a Decepticon now and I felt guilty by not telling them about how Paul...who was a portion of Primus, transported me to this dimension to help him on his mission to make peace between the two factions. I knew the circumstances of how I arrived on the Nemesis...just not exactly how it happened.

Another issue I was having was planning for the future. No, I didn't care how the timeline continued anymore. It could go to the Pit for all I cared. No, I was worried about the solar the other Decepticons would ask the right question that would force me to decide; lie to the Decepticons...who I had sworn my loyalty and service to, or tell them everything about what I knew and pray that they didn't decide to kill me on the spot or think I was insane...or both.

Something told me that time was drawing closer and I had to be ready for it. I just had to be. If I was asked right now...honestly...I'm not sure which direction I would go. While I had told Paul that all ties between us were done, I still felt nervous about telling the Decepticons about...well...everything. That is what it would end up boiling down to. If I told the Decepticons...the rest of us, about how I had started my journey toward the Nemesis, then I would have to tell them about who I really was, who Paul really was, and why I seemed to know so much about them to fit in so quickly.

When we entered the bridge, I put on my helmet and glanced around and realized that I forgot what was going to be happening. I knew that earlier, somebot had said something about Breakdown investigating a magnetic disturbance…

….Oh slag.

When the doors opened up behind me, I jumped and stayed tense as Breakdown walked in, battered and scraped up. Hold on...I don't remember Breakdown looking quite that beat up. Either something happened and Arcee and Bulkhead were able to work together stuck...well, together, much better than they had been able to in the show, or different Autobots had been stuck together. Since there were so many new Autobots at their base, then that possibility was a very good possibility.

I watched Breakdown as he walked up toward Megatron, who was in the center of the circular room while we were on the top right side. While we couldn't see what was on Breakdown's backplates, I knew that this was not going to be good for my continued stay.

...Though the fragger Astrotrain might enjoy it.

"Breakdown, you dare to return empty-handed?!" Lord Megatron demanded as Breakdown, along with the two drones who were escorting him, stopped in front of Lord Megatron.

Luckily for Breakdown, he could answer that in the negative. "No, master." He then turned around so that every other bot could see what was attached to his backplates. I actually felt Thundercracker tense and Starscream, who was standing next to us, seemed to slightly tense as well. The twins looked nervous and it was at this moment that I was glad that I had put my helmet on. I would not have reacted the way I should have since I knew that Airachnid was coming.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts as Lord Megatron spoke with slight surprise in his vocals. "Airachnid. It has been some time."

"Lord Megatron, what can I say?" The bug femme started with the false praise that Starscream's character did in the actual timeline. "It's good to be back." She then glanced toward Thundercracker and I could see the smirk come on her faceplate as her optics landed on me. "My my Thundercracker. It appears you have acquired a human playtoy. I do hope you will be kind enough to share with me as well."

When Lord Megatron didn't say anything, I had a feeling that this was going to be like a sort of test. This was going to test my ability to stick up for myself when other Decepticons came into question. Astrotrain didn't count because he had been on the ship before I had become a full-fledged Decepticon. Airachnid would be my true test.

So, instead of getting angry about being called a playtoy, I took off my helmet so I could look at the femme directly. "I'm sorry, but the femme who is stuck on another bot's back has very little room to talk about being a plaything. Sorry dear."

I was so proud of myself when I didn't flinch as a smirk appeared on Airachnid's faceplate. "Oh, the little human thinks that she is so smart now, doesn't she?"

A smirk was my response back at her before I spoke again. "Oh this little human knows she is at least smart enough to not get stuck on another bot's back and then act like she didn't screw up." I then sat cross-legged on Thundercracker's shoulder before continuing. "Oh, and this 'little human's' name is Lizzie. I hope the piece of biology that you call a processor is capable of holding onto that little bit of information."

The hiss of annoyance that came from Airachnid after that told me that I had won that round. Served the fragging femme right. I was a strategist on this ship and, while she was known for being sly and tricky, and using the field to her advantage, two femmes could play at that game. Seems like I was playing it better this solar. "Why you insolent little,"

"Enough Airachnid." Lord Megatron ordered her with a hard look. "Lizzie has earned her place among us and she is to be treated as a fellow Decepticon. If I find that you have attacked her without sufficient cause, I will personally deal with you."

I felt nervous as Lord Megatron was speaking. But, at the same time, I felt relieved. Him sticking up for me told me that my place among the Decepticons was truly solidified. As long as I didn't royally screw this up, my being in the Decepticons that is, then I would be protected. Of course, Lord Megatron was the only bot on the planet, that I knew was here, that scared me.

Airachnid looked reluctantly obedient as she answered Lord Megatron. "Yes...my Lord." However, the glare that she sent me told me that I had definitely made an enemy of her. Great. I doubted that it would take her too long to hook up with Astrotrain in the 'Decepticons who hated Lizzie' club. When that happened, I knew that I was going to have to seriously watch my back to make sure that I didn't end up killed. Definitely was going to be keeping my helmet on at all times.

"Breakdown," Lord Megatron addressed the warrior. "Go to med bay. Hook and Knockout should be there and will help relieve you of your...package." Guess since I won the banter, Airachnid wasn't going to stay very high in Lord Megatron's books for now. I loved it when something good happened to me.

"Yes, Lord Megatron." Breakdown responded before he left the bridge.

I was zoned out for a few clicks, thinking about how I was going to be surviving on this ship now that I would have both Airachnid and Astrotrain after me...and not having a lot of luck with any ideas, before I paid attention to Thundercracker as he addressed Lord Megatron. "Lord Megatron, permission to return Lizzie, Frenzy, and Rumble to Soundwave's quarters for their solar recharge?"

Lord Megatron's gaze moved over the three of us, and stayed on me for a few nanos longer than the others, before he gave a solitary nod. "Very well. Lizzie," I focused more as my leader addressed me directly. "When you awaken from your recharge, you are to report to Shockwave."

I bowed my head toward him, my helmet under my arm, before saying, "Yes my Lord."

Thundercracker then bowed his helm toward Lord Megatron before he moved out of the bridge. Not long after we left, Thundercracker looked down at me. "Femme, I have to ask if you have an offlining wish. First, you get on Astrotrain's bad side and now Airachnid's.

I really didn't see the big deal of being on their bad sides so I shrugged and asked just that. "What's the big deal? I couldn't help that Astrotrain hated me the nano he glanced at me and that femme was just asking for trouble."

It was Rumble who answered me. "Lizzie, Airachnid is a hunter model femme and she is dangerous. You need to keep as far away from her as possible."

Instead of agreeing with one of the mechs I saw as a brother, I shook my head. "Sorry bots, but no way. While I'll admit to you mechs that the femme makes me nervous, I'm not going to run away in fear from her...or even caution. She would take that as me being afraid of her and that is something I am not. There is only one Cybertronian on this ship that scares me and that is Lord Megatron. He has earned my fear and respect. I will not fear Airachnid and put her on the same level as our leader."

We had arrived at Soundwave's room at that point and Thundercracker was putting in the code for it. As he did, though, I could tell that the mechs were trying to make a counter-argument against what I had just proclaimed. But, I knew that they wouldn't be able to. Once I brought up Lord Megatron, I knew my fight was won. They wouldn't be able to argue against that now.

Once T.C. walked into Soundwave's room and set us down, he gave me a studying look before letting out a defeated sigh. "Just...be careful Lizzie. None of us want to see you hurt by her or Astrotrain."

Well, I could at least comfort the mechs a little. "I promise I'll try."

That seemed to make him relax a little so he nodded before leaving. The twins and I then got ready for recharge before we all got onto the bed and snuggled close together. It was weird. I was an only child before all of this, but now I couldn't imagine what it would be like not sharing a bed...berth, with another being.

"Night Lizzie." Both Rumble and Frenzy spoke at the same time as their systems started to cycle down.

Being sandwiched in-between them, I smiled and snuggled a little more before relaxing and saying, "Night Rumble; Frenzy." All of the stress of the solar then seemed to hit me at once and awareness left me.

 **Paul's 1st P.O.V.**

I felt tense as I sat with the kids in the viewing area. Since June knew about the bots now, Jack's grounding had been leniated and so that allowed him to be at base when he wasn't at work, school, or home. Of course, there were still aspects of his grounding that were in effect but it definitely wasn't as harsh as it could be. That was even more so because she found out that I wasn't responsible for getting Jack into that pile of scrap. He and Bumblebee rolled up to that one all on their own.

Speaking of June, however, once Wheeljack and Zarron returned, I decided to buck up the courage to talk to her about our differences and settle them like adults should. Yes, I would only admit it to myself that I had been avoiding June all day, running from her instead of talking things out.

Once the two of us had talked, however, I could feel a change in our relationship. I felt like she respected me more than she had before and that was a step in the right direction. With the tension that was at base here, mainly due to Pitch, Sentinel, Flamewar, and Zarron, one less tense situation made everything that much better.

Speaking of Zarron, though, I noticed that he seemed slightly more relaxed after he had returned with Wheeljack and the Polarity Gauntlet. I wasn't sure what happened after Zarron had lectured Miko and me and sent us back to the base, but I knew it was something major. Not only was Zarron more relaxed, but Wheeljack seemed very comfortable around the mech now. Something must have been revealed that eased whatever worries Wheeljack was having about the mech.

Wish I could have the same information.

Instead, I was stuck wandering around blind like everyone else in this dimension was. All of the new bots and changed events had caused this dimension to morph into an entirely different version of itself. One worry that I was still having was Breakdown. While I was relieved that he had been here this cycle to fulfill his role in the timeline, I was worried about how he had escaped. Obviously, the Autobots did not have any idea about what happened to the mech in Russia, and the mech didn't share much except that something had captured him.

But, that didn't tell me how he escaped. In the original timeline, Starscream had helped save Breakdown to get a favor from the warrior for 'when the time came'. Even though in the original timeline that favor was never called up, this new timeline could bring more trouble.

"What are you so stressed about Paul?" Miko asked me. "The 'Bots kicked aft and everything turned out alright." Since Jack and Raf where with us, she couldn't say much but she made her point well enough. From what I had shown her in the episode, everything had gone almost perfectly...except for Bulkhead and Arcee being replaced with Wheeljack and Zarron.

So, to cover up my worry for the timeline, I shook my head and said, "Just some stress from work. Emails about orders not being delivered that we needed and shipments being delivered that we didn't order." From the quick understanding look on Miko's face, she knew that I was worried about the timeline.

"I bet it'll get better soon." Raf spoke encouragingly.

I nodded at his enthusiasm. "I hope you are right Raf. I just,"

"Prime!"

The distance I jumped out of my seat almost would look suspicious as I suddenly heard Fowler's voice yell that. What the frag was going on? He wasn't supposed to show up during this. Thanks a lot fate. Just a little bit of love would be nice. Please?

All of the bots in the main room, which was most of them actually, looked up at Fowler before Optimus walked up to him. "Agent Fowler. What seems to be the problem?"

Fowler then held up a flash drive, which made me nervous, before he continued speaking. "Been going over some satellite surveillance from the past few weeks with the intel boys and I think I found something that you are going to want to see." He then motioned to Raf, who along with the rest of us had moved so we were standing next to Fowler. "Kid, can you put the videos up here on the big screen in order?"

"Sure Agent Fowler." Raf responded before taking the flash drive and plugging it into his computer, which was linked to the main monitor at base. After a few minutes, the screen went hazy before it showed the familiar setting of the Comp Chakna incident.

"This is footage from eight days ago near the Comp Chakna Peninsula." Fowler started as we watched the fights between Breakdown and Bulkhead, and Vox and Zarron. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with the fights as we watched Bulkhead and Zarron get knocked out by their respective opponents.

"Hurts just watching it again." Bulkhead commented as he saw himself unconscious on the screen.

While Zarron didn't give vocal support to that, he did give one nod...wait...when did he get in here? Last I knew, he had been bridge a few dozen miles away to get the message that he had been waiting for. Maybe Fowler coming in had distracted me from the bots entrance. That was what I was hoping for anyways.

When the bolts of electricity hit both Breakdown and Vox, I didn't feel any sort of surprise. This was what was supposed to happen then. But, that didn't explain anything that I didn't already know. What I needed to know was, "Hang on," Wheejack started. "If MECH captured Breakdown and Vox, then how the frag was Breakdown at the canyon today with the polarity gauntlet?" That.

"Yeah," Sentinel started with an annoyed look. "The 'Cons don't worry about bots who are stupid enough to get captured by humans like that." I might have been imagining things, but that almost sounded like he was...no, that couldn't be right.

It seemed like Fowler, for once, was the man with all the answers as he motioned to Raf. "Play the second clip." As Raf pulled it up, Fowler continued to speak. "The reason that I wanted to get to you 'Bots right away was because of what we found next."

The scene on the monitor then changed to the MECH base. My eyes were immediately wide with surprise when I saw that not just Starscream were in on the action against the terrorist organization. From the video that we were getting, Starscream had been there with Thundercracker, Skywarp, Skyquake, Shockwave, Blitzwing, and Astrotrain fighting against MECH to rescue Breakdown and Vox.

"What the frag?" Flamewar stated in shock. "'Cons don't rescue their own. Why the frag did Megatron allow a good portion of his higher command to go on a mission to rescue two?"

In return, Fowler shook his head. "I don't know...but that isn't even the most surprising thing we discovered out of this."

Why the frag was Megatron using so many of his troops to rescue Breakdown and Vox? He didn't usually do...what did Fowler just say? "What do you mean?" I asked the agent.

He turned to me as the video seemed to switch cameras. "We were able to get a couple minutes of footage from inside of MECH's facility and we discovered this."

We all then watched the screen as, for the first minute, two MECH troops stayed at attention at a door. Then, a third MECH troop was thrown into view and was seemingly unconscious on the floor. Were the Decepticons using their soliforms as well? That didn't sound right. None of the bots from before would risk their chassis' to go to their soliforms and, since I didn't see the Nemesis in any of the shots from before, the distance would be too far away for the soliforms to be tangible in the base.

So, my eyes widened when I saw a male humanoid figure fighting against the MECH troops. No way. While this possibility seemed impossible, it would explain so much. The Decepticons did not just have Lizzie on board of the Nemesis as the only organic. There was another organic up there with her.

That caused me to worry more about Lizzie. While the others in the room started to talk about this new development, I lost myself in my thoughts. Lizzie was really only a kid, though she was technically the human age of adulthood. Now, not only was she stuck on a ship with Cybertronians who would not hesitate to offline her, but there was another organic...possibly another human, who could be a danger to Lizzie.

Of course, there was a positive side to this. With the revelation of another humanoid being on the Nemesis, it explained Lizzie's harsh and abrupt cutting of ties with me. Like Miko suggested, if she talked in her sleep and this other humanoid heard her, Lizzie could be placed in serious danger. Had Lizzie been trying to hint that there was another human on the ship but my grilling having pushed her away from that topic? Maybe this other human had even forced Lizzie to join the Decepticons! That made more sense since I had hired her to make peace, not pick a side.

Everything was becoming so clear and I was honestly relieved. Lizzie was still on my side...just secretly. Hopefully, she could survive a little longer on the Nemesis. If things went alright...and hopefully they would, then the Autobots would have a chance to be on the Nemesis and find her here at the end of season one...when Optimus and Bulkhead invaded the ship after Megatron shoots Raf.

The future was finally looking up, and Lady Luck was on my side now!

* * *

 **Miko: See Paul, I knew something was going to go right.**

 **Paul: *nods...relieved* Yes, that is true. I'm just glad I finally got an explanation that makes sense about Lizzie.**

 ***both leave***

 **Authoress: *walks in before shaking head* Oh Paul. Just as blind as ever...and you're dragging Miko with you. *looks over notes for future.***

* * *

 **AN: And here it is! The next exciting chapter of this story! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! I have decided to not be so detailed about the reviewing of the chapter since I want you guys to catch a lot of this one your own...or be totally blown away when the hinted at stuff blows you away.**

 **Short and sweet? This chapter definitely dropped some hints about the future and what is going to happen...and some that aren't that obvious to the viewer as much as other things. Keep an eye out because, with the end of season one just over the horizon, I'm sure that things are going to get crazy.**

 **As for next chapter, things will definitely be changing along with some interesting developments on at least one side...maybe even two. XD Things will definitely be interesting with who I have slated for the first point of view...*zones out***

 ***comes back* Anyways, that's all for all of that now. Here are the names of the next chapters and their original names in italics to help with those trying to follow along.**

 **Chapter 19: Danger Keep Out _Rock Bottom_**

 **Chapter 20: Mistrust _Partners_**

 **Chapter 21:...(I'm sure you've caught on to how this works by now. XD )**

 **Okay...so that is that for now. Please drop a review, even to say hi. I love the inspiration that I get from all of you guys and reviews...or even PMs coming to me, mean more than any of you could know. Well, until next time, TTYL! *looking to future with more glee than you all know yet***


	20. Danger Keep Out

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Authoress: Wow, that was a great weekend.**

 **Lizzie: I bet it was for you. You got to go around dressed as a medeival member of royalty and got to be in charge.**

 **Authoress: Yep!**

 **Lizzie: And yet some wonder why you are a Decepticon fan. *stares knowingly***

* * *

Chapter 19: Danger Keep Out

 **Megatron's 1st P.O.V.**

I found myself sitting on my throne with quite a few thoughts going through my head. Normally at this time, I would be making the rounds and observing my soldiers in person. However, this solar was different. I was not blind to the tensions in my troops that had started with the arrival of Astrotrain. He and the second newest Decepticon on the ship, Lizzie, were known to have tension and I had personally witnessed this tension. It wasn't healthy but I held off on dealing with it to see how the human Decepticon dealt with the pressure.

At first, she seemed indifferent if only slightly affected. Then, she snapped and I had to have Shockwave step in and make sure that she did not waste time on this tension. Lizzie had surprised me when she had fixed it for herself that very solar. From that point, the two had returned to the tension they were at before, though I was sure that Lizzie would not lose her cool again because of Astrotrain. She seemed to learn from her mistakes the first time and that was a good quality for a Decepticon to have.

However, with the addition of the newest Decepticon on the ship, I now had an even larger problem than I had before. Lizzie and Airachnid had hit off their interactions with each other on the wrong pede and Lizzie had come out on top during that bantering. While I personally was impressed by that, since Airachnid was known for having a smooth glossa and a quick wit, I knew that Airachnid did not take so well to Lizzie's bettering of her. Airachnid was bordering on being hostile toward the human.

And that could not stand. We Decepticons stood our best chance against the Autobots if we worked together, even if that is begrudgingly like Lizzie and Astrotrain had been doing up to this point. With this new hostile force in the midst of the rest of my Decepticons, I knew that the time would eventually come when a fight would break out. A fight that would not only cause injuries, but would also waste time and that was not something I could allow to happen if I could fix it now.

But, the question now would be how to deal with them. Both Airachnid and Astrotrain were skilled fighters and I had to be careful how I approached them. Also, a public humiliation and reprimandation would do no good for those two. It would just cause more divisions to start to form in my army. I had to take them somewhere where I could control the interaction. Also, I would need to bring another officer so they could tell the other officers about the warning I would be giving to Astrotrain and Airachnid as well as be a second set of optics while I tested their loyalty to myself and the Decepticon cause.

To figure out where this would take place, I pulled up past reports about our abandoned mines and, after searching through a few of them, I found a mine that would put us underground and the delicate flooring of the mine would prevent Airachnid, who should notice this upon our arrival, from drilling into the floor without bringing the entire mine down upon herself as well as Astrotrain and me.

Since this test would be underground, however, that took out many of my officers. While claustrophobia luckily did not affect me, the same could not be said for most of my officers with a flight mode and, in the case of the only officer with a flight mode that this did not affect, Blitzwing, or the one who was affected by it the least, Soundwave, both would cause the situation to be tenser than needed.

Blitzwing could possibly have problems with his other personalities and that would cause the talks to possibly go off track...something that I did not want to happen. In Soundwave's case, I needed him to be on the ship due to Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker off on an energon scouting mission in the Sahara Desert.

The other officers with a flight mode were too affected by claustrophobia to be taken on this mission. That left Knockout, Breakdown, Vox, Shockwave, and Hook. Vox was getting some vital training with Soundwave and so that was out, Knockout would be too annoying to bring with because he would complain about his finish. Plus, in a fight, he would not be much assistance.

Breakdown would be useful except he was currently escorting Rumble and Frenzy to a location on Earth known as Rome. Lizzie had suggested that the twins take a trip there to increase their knowledge on 'ancient' human culture and the 'Roman Empire' according to Lizzie, was a key focal point in understanding the development of humanity.

Then there was Hook. He was currently in mine RB-7549 taking in stock plus staying guard against the possibility of an Autobot attack. With the Autobots having the addition of the energon harvester in their arsenal, they had taken to attacking more of the mines on a semi-regular basis. It wasn't much of a struggle yet but I knew that something had to be done soon with this situation. Either we needed a way to supplement our energon so our need was not large and we could destroy the energon that the Autobots were after, or we would have to shift focus to guarding our mines more fiercely and that would cause our other projects to suffer. Some of those projects were vital to our future war effort and this division of power would not be good.

But, I realized that I was allowing my thoughts to fade from the current situation. Dealing with the budding insubordination from Airachnid and Astrotrain. The only remaining Decepticon that would be ideal to go with me would be Shockwave. While I knew that he was working on his projects, many of which were important, I knew that Shockwave had the capacity to recover from this time that would be lost. Plus, Shockwave was battle proficient enough to help deal with Astrotrain and Airachnid should they give problems during this test.

So, I connected my monitor to the one in Shockwave's lab. When the one-optic mech answered, I could see that he was alone and he must have been in the middle of one of his projects, for I could see the cylinder from Rudulf Island in the back on the table. "My Lord, how may I be of service?" Shockwave asked me.

So, I answered him. "You will accompany me on an excursion with Airachnid and Astrotrain to mine IC-2223. They are testing the limits of my orders and they must be put in their place."

Shockwave gave a bow of his helm. "Yes, my Lord." He then paused before saying, "My Lord, when we return from this excursion, may I request the assistance of Lizzie? I know she will probably have training with Starscream during that time. However, her intimate knowledge of humanity will help me in catching up to where I am currently in my work."

While I knew Starscream seemed to anticipate his training with our human Decepticon, I knew that Shockwave's work was paramount. So, I sent the change in orders to Starscream before I responded to Shockwave. "It shall be done. Meet me on the bridge for departure immediately."

"Thank you, my Lord. I shall meet you right away." Shockwave responded before I ended the call.

I then stood and sent a message to Airachnid and Astrotrain to meet me on the bridge, before I made my way there. I was not going to take insubordination on my ship any longer and Airachnid and AStrotrain had better learn that this solar. Otherwise, I would not hesitate to get rid of them. I would rather have them offline then against me.

 **Miko's 1st P.O.V.**

What happened? I was on a scouting mission with Bulk, Wheeljack, Arcee, Flamewar, Jack, and Paul and we had found an abandoned Decepticon mining cave. The bots had been hesitant to go in and so I had complained about this taking so long. I had a concert to get to tonight. Slash Monkey was playing their only US date and I did not want to miss it!

So, to help move everything along, I had taken the initiative and crept into the cave. It was awesome to look at and, even though the mine was stripped, I felt like there was more that I could find.

Anyway, the others had started to catch up to me as I moved toward an opening that had a lot of light coming through. I would have waited for them but, right when I was about to stop, I heard voices up ahead. Curious, since I had been the first one of our group to go into the cave, I had walked ahead until I could see into the opening. Of course, it had been at that point that I remembered the information that Paul had given me about what was supposed to happen now.

Seeing Megatron, Shockwave, Astrotrain, and Airachnid standing there, Airachnid and Astrotrain looking nervous, was not what I had been ready to see.

It was also at that time that the rest of the group that was with me caught up and I remembered Flamewar started to chastise me about going ahead...which sounded condescending, before they all finally saw what I saw.

Blaster fire had then started, and I remembered hearing Megatron yelling at someone...I think Airachnid, before the floor had started to cave in. I knew that this was going to happen and tried to get near Paul. But, before I got to him, the ground under me had given out.

I winced as I started to stand up and look around. That fall hurt and I just hoped that something wasn't seriously hurt. Or someone. "Paul? Jack?" I called out for the two other 'humans' on this trip. When silence followed, I tried for someone else. "Wheeljack? Bulkhead?" Still no answer.

So, I moved away from where I fell and started to walk. I had to find one of the others...except maybe Flamewar if I was still alone. She creeped me out and I knew that Paul was nervous around her when she was alone or with Pitch and Sentinel. If the god of the Cybertronians was nervous around those three, that told me that I probably should be too.

After about ten minutes of walking, I turned and was about to call out again when I noticed a purple glow coming from a human-sized hole to my left. What was that about? I didn't remember anything from the information Paul had shown me about there being something that glowed purple here. So, I decided to investigate. As I moved closer to the glowing purple light, however, I felt a weight in my chest. What was that about? It felt oppressive and it almost made me want to turn around. But, I wanted to see what this was even more.

Finally, after a few minutes of walking down the small path, I came to an open chamber and I felt my eyes immediately widen in shock.

No. Way.

I couldn't be seeing what I thought I was seeing. But, after a few blinks and shakes of my head, i really couldn't say that I wasn't seeing what I was seeing. Covering the far wall and ceiling of the cavern I had found were hundreds of crystals of dark energon. This was the stuff that Paul had been worried about since he got here. It hadn't made an appearance yet and here it was, just hanging out here where, according to the stuff Paul showed me, wasn't supposed to be.

But, I bet that this information was going to make Paul ecstatic! Seriously, Paul's mood was horrible recently since things weren't going the way that he wanted them to. Plus, with Lizzie and some other human, who was a Decepticon, still on the Nemesis and Lizzie still in danger, I knew Paul needed some good news. While it was weird that the substance of pure evil was going to make the god of good for the cybertronians happy, well, it was.

Knowing better than to touch the dark stuff, I moved back the way I came and, once I was back in the main tunnel, I moved to keep looking for the others. I knew that Airachnid, Astrotrain, Shockwave, and Megatron were probably still around here and I didn't want to even risk meeting up with any of them right now.

Paul couldn't lose another of his helpers to the Decepticons.

 **Chromia's 1st P.O.V**

I frowned as I leaned against the wall in the main room. It had been about an hour since the group of explorers had returned from the disaster in the abandoned mine. The humans were slightly shaken and the one had been returned, Arcee's partner Jack. The other two, Miko and Paul, were still being looked over. At the same time, Flamewar, 'Cee, Wheeljack, and Bulkhead were being checked over as well. That sort of luck wasn't something that one wanted to have during a war. Running into Megatron and Shockwave as the leader of our enemy was doing some internal cleanup. Add that to one of those being cleaned up being Airachnid and 'Cee had been in a lot of danger.

But, secretly, I felt like she was in more danger than that brought by the Decepticons. Flamewar still caused me to hesitate and, even here at base I found myself watching myself around her, Pitch, and Sentinel. They were on the fringes of Autobot support and I trust them as much less than I trust other Autobots. They didn't help my opinion of them by how they trained with Paul in their soliforms. The human would come out of those pretty beat up and the only reasons I wasn't trying to stop it were because Paul wanted this training...for some reason, and he had some allies.

While Cliffjumper would be with him as much as he could, but that honestly wasn't often, the one bot that surprisingly made me begrudgingly okay with this whole thing was Zarron. As shifty as he seemed to act most of the time, I found myself able to relax with him around. At least compared to the other three.

"You look too deep in thought." I turned at my sparkmate's voice and smiled as he and Ratchet walked into the main room from the med bay. Ironhide walked next to me and I gave him a quick kiss, to ease him.

But, since I knew that they just came from the med bay, I wanted to get some information. "How are the others doing?" I was worried about the team that had been in the mine.

Thankfully, Ratchet seemed to be relaxed about my question. "They're doing alright. A little banged up but they just need some rest before they will be back to full capacity."

Ironhide nodded. "Even the humans are alright. Jack had to get home since he has work tomorrow but Miko is staying here with Paul so he can help tutor her in her subjects for school."

"Plus, Miko and Paul were hit harder from the fall and I want them here for observation just in case." Ratchet added. "Of course, Paul is unfortunately used to that kind of damage though so I'm not as worried about him as I am about Miko."

"Well I am." Both Ratchet and I turned to Ironhide as he said that. I could feel the anger and irritation coming from him from our bond. "Paul is a stubborn human and shouldn't be taking that kind of damage."

Ratchet shook his helm at that. "While I agree with you, Paul is an adult in human terms and would tell us if the injuries he was taking were too much."

I found myself in agreement with Ratchet on this. "While I don't like what is happening in the training session, this is Paul's choice. But, I have to say that I feel better that Zarron seems to be taking an active role in making sure Paul isn't as hurt during those sessions." Both mechs nodded but I noticed a deep thinking look on Ironhide. That wasn't a safe look. "Careful there dear or you'll blow a fuse."

Ironhide shot me a look at that before he spoke. "I just wish I knew what Zarron's endgame was. With how he acts around all of us, beings like him, it's weird that he seems so protective of humans...especially Paul, even though he has just started interacting with humans."

And that was exactly the issue I had with Zarron. He seemed to almost look forward to going into his soliform when he was near most of us and, when he wasn't in soliform, he stayed away from casual conversation and mostly kept to himself. "Why don't we look up his service record?" I suggested to the mechs. "All Autobots have a basic record and it might give us a clue about why Zarron acts the way he does." At their hesitating looks, I decided to give them a little more encouragement. "It's not illegal to look up another bot's basic information on the system and Zarron is out right now. We wouldn't have another chance like this for a while."

Finally, I saw both mechs waver before Ratchet sighed and moved to the monitor, Ironhide and me following behind. "Fine, but let's be quick about it." Wow. I thought Ironhide would break first. But, I guess Ratchet was just as hesitant about Zarron as the rest of us seemed to be. So, he pulled up the database on registered Autobots and he started to search Zarron's name.

When the file came up, however, I found myself staring in confusion at the information in front of us. Well...not the information yet per say, but the lack of it. Most Autobots, for basic information, had three pages that would give information on service records of battles participated in, basic informational text, and an odd bit of information that the intelligence officers found important.

But, Zarron's information only showed a page of information...and the page wasn't even full. It listed his designation, his position which was a scout...which was surprising, a few battles that he has participated in, and a few other small bits of useless information. However, what was interesting was at the end. There weren't many bots who were listed who had served with him...and the ones that were weren't even scouts like he was.

The first listed was an intelligence officer called Remcy. I had heard about him before and he was high in the rankings of Autobot intelligence officers. But, after the attack on Praxus, he retreated to the far reaches of space and barely anybot had heard from him since. Well, that did match Zarron's personality so that wasn't surprising.

It was probably the next name that had Ironhide humming thoughtfully from next to me. Tana. She was a warrior who was decently well known in the Autobot ranks. While part of that was for her skill, it was mainly due to the group of warriors she belonged to; The Guardians. While the Wreckers were one of the top warrior groups that the Autobots had, they were challenged for the top spot by this group. The Guardians, while definitely not made up with as many members as the Wreckers, were highly skilled and exclusive. Also, gaining membership to the Guardians was no small feat.

Ironhide said that, when he first joined the Autobot cause, he had slightly hoped he would be asked to join. But, that faded as the war started. Still, he held them in high regard.

Seeing her name on a list of bots that Zarron had served with was impressive, and even more so since the rest of the Guardians were not on there. That meant that Zarron had served with Tana before the Guardians had picked her up.

But, is was the final line that caused me to be even more curious about the mech. Obviously, there was supposed to be something on that line. But, to my surprise, the line was marked out. It was like somebot had gone into the records and tried to remove the name altogether but couldn't so resorted to blocking it out. I was curious but knew that our time looking at this would be limited. With how many bots were here at base, somebot would be coming in soon.

So, Ratchet turned off the monitor...and seemingly right on time as the sound of a motorcycle was heard from the front entrance and, after a few clicks, the black motorcycle with blue flames appeared. Once Zarron transformed, he looked around and seemed to study the three of us for a few clicks. I didn't flinch and studied him right back. There was too little information on him and that made me suspicious. I wasn't sure how Wheeljack trusted the mech...or even Cliffjumper the little he did. But, as far as I am concerned, I would be watching the mech closely for any slip-up.

 **Thundercracker's 1st P.O.V.**

For the first time in a few solars, I was relieved. Recently, with the addition of Airachnid on the ship, everybot was on the tips of their pedes...or toes in Lizzie's case. Not only had Airachnid been causing problems for Lizzie, but Astrotrain had seen Airachnid's vendetta against Lizzie as a challenge and had started to increase his own harassment of the human. Honestly, I had been worried about how to make sure Lizzie stayed in one piece. I wasn't the only bot that was worried. Starscream and Soundwave had both coordinated to keep optics and cameras on Lizzie and the other Decepticons, besides Lord Megatron, had done their part before this solar.

Of course, the human herself wasn't much help. She wouldn't keep her head down around either Astrotrain or Airachnid and that made her an even easier target. She probably felt like this was a challenge for herself as a Decepticon and, with her pride as high as ever, she didn't back down...even if common sense said not to anger a hunter and a triple changer.

Thankfully, Lord Megatron had stepped in and went to test the loyalties of both Airachnid and Astrotrain. Our leader had made it quite clear when Airachnid first showed up that Lizzie was not to be attacked and these harassment attacks on Lizzie were just that; attacks.

I wasn't sure how that had gone and I was currently headed toward the room I shared with Starscream and Skywarp. Starscream said he was there and he would know how everything went. Well...he was the only one who knew who would tell me.

However, I felt relief about all of this because, with being confronted by Lord Megatron, Airachnid and Astrotrain would back off of Lizzie. That meant that the rest of us could take a break. As prideful as Lizzie could be, she wouldn't be the instigator in a confrontation between either Airachnid or Astrotrain. No, she was better at lashing out in retaliation then starting a fight.

The sound of laughter caused me to pause and look next to me, which happened to be the room that served as Shockwave's lab here, and I stopped and stared with a smile. Lizzie was standing next to shockwave's soliform, working with him by the computers. Of course, they weren't typing. Lizzie was using one hand to hold her side while the other was covering her mouth. I was guessing trying to stop herself from laughter. Though, since it stopped me she wasn't doing a good job.

Taking a glance at Shockwave, he was staring at his soliform's finger with interest and a little pain in his eyes. From the tip of one of the fingers was blood coming out. "This is unusual. Why is there so much pain originating from this point? It is simply a small cut from a piece of human writing surface." While our soliform's didn't feel pain, I had a feeling that Shockwave was studying how a human body would react to different pain and using his pain sensors to determine how the pain would translate to us. While he probably wasn't feeling the pain that his soliform should be experiencing, the readings were probably unexpected.

Lizzie seemed to calm down a little before saying, "The tips of fingers are one of the most sensitive parts of the human body. Just be happy you can't feel that." She then shuddered, though the smile stayed on her face. "Hurts like nothing you could imagine."

"I...will concede to your knowledge." Shockwave answered, still staring at the tip of his fingers in surprise. Wow. These cuts to the fingers must be painful for Shockwave to concede like that.

Our human Decepticon nodded at that before she turned to the screen and said, "Okay, then we had better move on. Why don't we look at trying to figure out the problem with the conversion rate of energy from human food to energy you all can use?" Lizzie suggested to Shockwave. He stared at her for a second before nodding and the two turned to the monitor.

Since they were moving to a different subject, I figured it would be best for me to leave before either of them noticed me. They seemed to be into their work and I needed to get some answers from Starscream. So, I continued on my journey to my room.

Once I arrived there, I opened the door and discovered that, not only were 'Warp and 'Scream in here, but Vox and Hook were visiting as well. I was curious about what was going on and hopefully one of these mechs would fill me in.

"Hey T.C., what have you been up to?" Skywarp asked me as he sat next to Starscream on our middle brother's berth. Hook and Vox were on Skywarp's berth and that left me to sit on mine.

Once I was seated, I motioned to the door. "Well, I was looking for Starscream when I noticed Lizzie and Shockwave working on the soliform project. Stopped and watched them for a bit."

I noticed a knowing smile on Vox's faceplate for a click before he spoke. "Yeah, Lizzie's been pushing herself more than usual to interact with most of us more. Just the other solar she spent five cycles with me talking about random things and working with me on decoding more of the Praxus database. I probably told her more about me than she told me about her. But, it was a lot of fun."

"But why were you looking for me Thundercracker?" Starscream asked me with a concerned look on his faceplate.

Taking a glance behind me to make sure that the door was closed, I turned back to the others and spoke. "I'm worried. While Airachnid and Astrotrain will back off of Lizzie for a while, they will probably go after her with a vengeance after they get over the hesitation Lord Megatron put in them this solar." I then noticed that Starscream seemed tense and so I prodded him. "What is it Starscream? That's never a good look." I knew my brother, even if we had spent some time apart, and that look meant that he was worried about something I said.

Starscream looked between the four of us before he spoke. "While that might hold true for Astrotrain for a while, Airachnid might be another matter. She did not pass the test in the cave as well as Lord Megatron had wished and so he will be setting up another test for her. One of us may have to accompany Airachnid on another test."

Well, that wasn't good. Airachnid gave me the creeps and I knew that Lizzie worried about her being near me. Being near any of us actually. I know that Lizzie didn't fear her but she did take caution around the femme, which made me feel better. But, we would all have to be on guard with Airachnid having suffered in her standing during her test. She would be ready to lash out and use any one of us to do just that.

* * *

 **Thundercracker: I'm getting a bad feeling about all of this. Things are becoming tense and this tension won't last long. Lord Megatron will find this as a waste of time.**

 **Starscream: *nods* And when that happens I'm not sure who is going to come out. We'll have to keep a closer eye on Lizzie...*looks around* Where is Lizzie?**

 ***all look around***

 **Skywarp: *points* *frowns* Found her.**

 **Lizzie: *looks up from eating turkey leg* Hey. Authoress brought me back one from the Renaissance Fair she just went to. Not my fault you can't eat human food. *takes a big bite out of it***

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter! Looks like there is a lot of drama that is being built up and I can only wonder when it will come to a head? Just kidding. Of course I know. Unlike other stories I should definitely be trying to work on I have this story moderately mapped out to near the end of the first season. It is going to turn out to be a very interesting season. One piece of advise that I can give is to look at the little details.**

 **Back to the chapter you all just read, seems like Airachnid and Astrotrain are under some serious scrutiny. While Astrotrain got rid of some of his, Airachnid seems to be in even deeper crap than before. Another test is on the horizon and I wonder who is going to draw the short stick and have to go with her on her next test?**

 **Well, that's all for this chapter. Next chapter will have some stuff that will cause questioning to be done about changes and it might just show a glimpse of what is to come. Maybe some cute fun as well. Haven't quite decided on little details yet.**

 **So, as expected, here are the names of the next chapters with their original names in italics to help with those who are trying to compare changes with the original.**

 **Chapter 20: Mistrust _Partners_**

 **Chapter 21: K.I.S.S. _TMI_**

 **Chapter 22: ...(next time of course)**

 **Alright, so that's all for now. A review is nice to read, even if it is saying hi. I'll try to update soon but with me...who really knows? *crickets sound* *coughs* Anyways, I guess that's all for now. Until next time, TTYL! *listens to bagpipes***


	21. Mistrust

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Authoress: Okay, no killing me allowed. I've been super busy and stressed and that is why this is so late.**

 **Lizzie: I didn't say anything at all.**

 **Authoress:...I know. But, good news is that this is done and I have a rough outline into season two already worked out. The part that takes so long**

 **Lizzie: *interrupts* is the little details. We know. But, I got to say that I don't like the title of this chapter much.**

 **Authoress: *shrugs* Can't help that. The story must go on, as much as we might not like to see some parts.**

* * *

Chapter 20: Mistrust

 **Paul's 1st P.O.V.**

"Shit!" I couldn't help but yell out as I narrowly dodged a follow-up attack by Flamewar. I had been dodging one of Pitch's strikes but her soliform snuck in after his and narrowly missed knocking a few teeth out.

My reaction caused Felicity, Flamewar's soliform, to smirk before she shook her head. "Come now, Paul. After all this training that we have worked so hard to give you, you should always know to be on the lookout for surprise att...ack!" Flamewar let out a gag as Ashland slammed the back of his heel into her soliform's gut and flung her back.

Ashland, otherwise known as Zarron's soliform, smirked and stepped back toward me in a fighting position before saying, "Should probably take your own advice Felicity and not get distracted on the battlefield." He then raised his arms to block what was supposed to be a sneak attack from Sam, Sentinel's soliform.

Right now, as could probably be assumed, Zarron, whose soliform was Ashland Vale, was helping me in my training session against Sam Major, who was Sentinel's soliform, Felicity Wade, Flamewar's soliform, and Percy Chandler, Pitch's soliform. Unfortunately, Cliffjumper was out on patrol with Blurr right now or he would be in here and making this a more even fight. But, I really couldn't complain much. Ashland seemed to be just as proficient in fighting with his soliform as he was in his actual bot form and that made this training go by with fewer bruises for me.

Quickly dodging to the right, I stuck out my right leg and made Sam fall over it before getting some distance between the two of us while making sure I had tabs on the other three that were my opponents. Seemed like that was Ashland's idea as well as we both ended up with our backs facing each other. "How are you doing Ashland?" I asked my ally as the other three started to regroup.

He took a glance at me out of the corner of his eye before saying, "I think I have another round in me if you do." He then cast a quick glance at our opponents before saying, "What should our plan be going in?"

This was new. Ashland almost never asked me what I wanted to do going against these three. Instead, he usually told me his plan, which was normally pretty sound, before we went for the attack...or the defense if they regrouped faster. Well, I didn't want to waste this opportunity and so I took a closer glance at our opponents.

My first instinct, and a strategy we used often, was to attack Sam and Percy and then balance between the two of us in staving off Felicity's sneak attacks. But, they would be expecting that. Plus, I wasn't a twig of a person...for a human right now, and I could probably hold my own against Sam. While that would leave Percy open, I was sure that our best plan would be for Ashland to take on Felicity. Pitch's attacks wouldn't come nearly as fast as Felicity's would and we would stand a better chance at deflecting those as they came our way.

"I'll take Sam. You work on keeping Felicity away and we can both balance out taking on Percy. If one of us looks to be in trouble, we switch back to our tried and true method of keeping Percy and Sam on our radar at all times." While I was sure that my strategy was alright, it was always best to give a fallback strategy just in case something went wrong.

The studying look that Ashland gave me was weird but I held back from saying anything as he gave a nod and changed his stance to get ready to attack. If we were going to implement my attack, we would have to move quickly. "Sounds good." Was his simple response before launching at Felicity. That seemed to catch the three of them off guard since Felicity had already been separating herself...possibly for a sneak attack of their own.

Not to be outdone, I took their distraction to my and launched myself at Sam, who barely got his arms in time to deflect my first punch. However, he was not ready for my immediate follow-up and he flinched as my fist connected with his right ribcage. He took a few steps back and glared at me before launching at me. I took a step back and dodged his first swing and used my left hand to deflect his second swing before digging my elbow into his gut.

My adrenaline started to pulse as I suddenly felt my feet start to come out from under me. Damn, I left my legs open with that! Once I was on my back, I brought up my arms and used them to stop Sam's foot from crushing a few of my ribs. I was sure that Nurse Darby would not be happy if I had to come to her ER to get some broken ribs patched.

I flinched as a feeling of air rushing past the top of my head hit me and, as I threw Sam off me and quickly stood, I realized that Percy had gotten behind me, seeing me as the injured party out of the two of us, and tried to attack me. But, what caused him to miss?

"Hope you all don't mind me joining this little training session." I looked to my left and was surprised to see a soliform I hadn't seen before, but from the sound of the vocals, I knew who it was. The six foot one, tanned young man with short white hair with a light green streak and a white workout outfit with red and white markings had to be Wheeljack. Since when did he want to work with his soliform. He was usually more into working on his actual bot form.

Since it looked like we were at another impasse, Ashland joined Wheeljack's soliform and me as we stood slightly back, staring at the opposition. But, while we did, I was surprised when Wheeljack, who was standing in the middle, held out a fist to Ashland and even more surprised when Ashland actually fist-bumped Wheeljack. What the frag happened to make those two such close friends!? This didn't make a fragging bit of sense! "So, what are we supposed to call you in your soliform?" Ashland asked Wheeljack as the three in front of us continued to study Wheeljack's soliform.

Speaking on that, however. "Warren. Warren Jones is the soliform's full name but you can just call me Warren." Wheel...Warren spoke before he got into a battle-ready position and faced toward the trio in front of us.

Instead of starting a fight, however, Percy seemed to study Warren before saying, "I think it's time for Sentinel and me to go on patrol to look for some energon mines." The three of them then vanished, having turned off their soliforms. Not like I didn't see that coming. If the odds changed against them during these training sessions, they seemed to find some way out of continuing.

Wheeljack's soliform joining was a big surprise...and not just to him. While I knew that Zarron and Wheeljack were becoming fast friends...somehow...it was still strange seeing him here. Wheeljack, who seemed amused at their reaction, shook his head before saying, "Great, the first time I use this thing and the competition goes running."

He and Zarron then exchanged a look, that seemed to mean something even though I wasn't sure what it was before Zarron nodded and said, "Well, I had better get back to my chassis. I have some research to do and I shouldn't delay it any longer. Until next time." He then nodded toward the two of us before his soliform disappeared.

And that left just Warren and me. "Well," Wheeljack started with a look around. "I guess I should get used to this form and you are the only human at the base right now to really give me a servo...hand with that. Willing to help me out here Paul?"

Well, he did just prevent me from taking a massive head injury. So, I guess I should do this for him. "Sure. What do you want to do?" I asked him as I grabbed the towel I had set to the side and wrapped it around my neck before taking the bottle of water I had next to it and taking a drink.

He looked at me curiously before motioning down the hall. "I better take it easy here at first and just walk around. This height difference feels a bit weird."

Seemed reasonable enough, though I held back on mentioning that he was about to go into a fight in this new form without a second thought. "Sure." I responded before walking next to him. The two of us then began to walk down the hall. As we did, though, that bit I held back came to the top. "If you are feeling off with the height difference, then why were you about to fight against the other soliforms with me and Zarron's soliform?" I asked him as we continued to walk.

Wheeljack, who seemed to be studying the difference in view from a human height, turned to look at me as I asked that. Once I was done, he stopped, which caused me to stop, before he spoke. "Battle is the same. Doesn't matter what form you are in." He held a very serious look before he shrugged as he continued. "Plus, we were all the same height so it was probably easier to think of me fighting them like that as fighting them in my bot form. This though, walking the same halls that I do in my chassis...it feels different."

I guess that made sense. I was still iffy about that response but I couldn't argue it now. Plus, he had just helped me. Shouldn't be insulting the bot that had just helped me. "So, why did you go in there just now? You haven't used your soliform before and that wasn't exactly the best time for tips and tricks in hiding as a human."

He raised an eyebrow at me before shaking his head. "That fight was weighed against you and Ashland. Two bigger fighters and a speed fighter against a speed fighter and a bigger fighter? Still leaves a big fighter to give you trouble. Figured since Cliffjumper wasn't in there, that I should give you a hand." He then stared at me before asking a question of his own. "Paul, you're an adult in your species. You should know when the odds are unfair like that to back out. That's especially with who you are fighting." He cast a dark look at that before he continued. "Why do you do the training with them despite all of that?"

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow before I continued to walk forward and answered him. "Why do I do it?" I then took a second to pause get my thoughts in order before continuing. "Well, fighting fair isn't really preparing myself for what I might face. Sure, there will be times where it will be just one on one. But, this kind of training helps me be ready for the unexpected." My mind flashed to Lizzie breaking away from me. "And it helps me keep moving forward despite the odds."

"Hmph." Wheeljack let out. "You know Paul, you have more in you then you let on. " Oh Wheeljack, if only you knew how true that was.

Since Wheeljack seemed to be in a talkative mood, however, I decided that it was high time I get some background on the shifty trio that I had just been fighting. More specifically, the one bot that Lizzie had created that seemed against me. Pitch. "Warren, you seem to know Percy from before you came here to Earth. Can you tell me about that?"

Please lady luck let him answer this for me. Please! Knowing about Pitch in this dimension would be a large relief. A part of me was still worried that beings like Pitch and Zarron were in this dimension. They weren't my creations, technically. They were Lizzie's creations. So, she had a lot of their basic dimensional psyche down to a science. That was an advantage that she had on me. But, I was around more bots that had served with him and that would get me a better view on how he was like here. Lizzie knew how her creations acted in her broad sense, but I would have a better grasp on how to interact with them.

She couldn't top that.

"Percy huh?" Wheeljack repeated before he looked forward. What sounded like an annoyed sigh left the Wrecker's soliform before he started talking. "He's never been one to care much about his comrades. The only good thing I can say is that he is worse against the 'Cons with his attitude than his own faction. But, that isn't by much. There were a few times he and his group of buddies rubbed us Wreckers the wrong way and we got close to some pretty serious fighting. But, that was back then." He then shook his soliform head as we entered the main hub before saying, "Well, that was a good exercise in this thing for now. I think I'll start using it more for those training sessions. Better let me know when the next one is so I can get some work in too." His soliform then disappeared.

As he returned to his chassis, however, I thought back to how he ended his story on Pitch. From the sound of his voice, I couldn't tell what would happen if Pitch rubbed him the wrong way here on Earth and it made me nervous...and that was especially since Wheeljack was now going to be there during my training. While I felt safer with the Autobots than I ever would with the Decepticons, I knew that tensions were rising and it would only be a matter of time before those tensions clashed. I wasn't sure I wanted to be to close to that when it happened.

When I arrived in the main room, I was surprised that the bots were hopping like there was a fire. Guess something must have just happened to send the bots into this sort of tizzy. Since the kids were at school, I was going to have to wait for somebot to talk to fill me in on the information that I wanted.

"Where is the signal at again?" Signal? What signal were they talking about? I looked between Blurr, who had asked the question, and everybot else as they looked at the monitors.

"Here." Ratchet pointed toward where the coordinates blinked on the screen. "The signal is underground so we will have to be careful with who we send. This could be a supply of some much-needed energon and we cannot fail in getting it." Right, because even though the Autobots had the energon harvester, the increased number of troops from the original timeline was still causing a massive strain on the Autobot energon reserves.

I then paid attention as Optimus started to speak. "That sounds like a sound goal old friend." He then turned to the others. "Arcee, Flamewar, Pitch, Zarron, Blurr, and Wheeljack, you will accompany me to the coordinates. The rest of you will remain on standby."

They all seemed in agreement, though I noticed that Zarron seemed to stay close to Wheeljack and both Wheeljack and Zarron were sending looks at Flamewar and Pitch. Something told me that this was not going to turn out well and, as the bridge started to power up, I made a rash decision. While this would normally not be a good idea, I knew that sneaking with the group would help me get a better feel of the situation during this part of the timeline. I was fighting at least one unknown enemy in the form of the other humanoid on the Nemesis with Lizzie and I had to have as much information as possible for each step.

Thankfully, it didn't seem like anyone noticed me slip behind the team through the ground bridge. Plus, with the limited energon supply, I doubted that they were going to be sending me back right away.

 **Thundercracker's 1st P.O.V.**

Frag my life.

Normally, I liked to think of myself as a lucky sort of mech. I usually didn't get many assignments that would find me offline and I didn't make too many enemies. I kept my helm down when needed and worked hard to make sure that I wasn't mixed up in trouble and that my loyalty to Lord Megatron and his cause was firm.

"Are you the slower of your trine? Didn't think seekers were slow walkers."

So how did I draw the short straw and end up on Airachnid's 'make-up' test of loyalty mission? It didn't make sense and honestly, I was just hoping that I would be able to stay online. I knew that, the other night cycle, Starscream had mentioned that he was worried about one of us having to come with Airachnid for this. A part of me, of course, wishes it wasn't me here right now. I was ready to crack my helm open against the walls of the ship so I wouldn't pop Airachnids right off that spindly chassis of hers.

But, the other part of me is glad that I was the one chosen and not Skywarp or 'Scream. Between the three of us, I was honestly the most level helmed. Skywarp would probably cause her to offline him just by him getting on her nerves. Starscream, on the other servo, would probably get irritated by her to the point where he would make a verbal jab at her and fall for her taunting and get in trouble himself. So, I was the only one left to take on the task of watching Airachnid through her trial.

"I didn't realize that hunters were so talkative." I mumbled once she was out of range.

While I wanted nothing more than to say that loud enough for her to hear, I remembered the outright worried look on Lizzie's face when I had been about to turn to follow Airachnid through the ground bridge. Usually, Lizzie kept her expression schooled when it came to what she was feeling. Those of us that are close to her can read her even through the disguised air she put up and thought that we couldn't read.

But no, this was different. It was like she couldn't even hide the immense worry she was feeling. I was pretty sure that anybot who was looking saw Lizzie's worried look toward me. Hopefully, that wouldn't put her neutrality she should have as a strategist at risk. But, if somebot questioned Lizzie on her decisiveness in creating the best strategies, then I was sure she would pull through.

But, the fact that she showed that much concern was also a comforting thought. I knew that many of us on Lizzie's side were worried about her confrontations with Airachnid and Astrotrain. This worry reassured me that she really did understand the danger that at least Airachnid placed on her. This secondary test, though, should help Lizzie for a while.

"It seems like you have finally decided to catch up with me." Airachnid's voice caused me to focus as she was focused on an old monitor.

And my alert status went to the highest and so I decided that it was time to question her. "What are you doing?" I trusted her about as far as I could throw Blitzwing and her being alone at a console was not something that I wanted to take a risk in.

She looked at me in a mocking way before continuing. "Accessing the cargo manifest...or didn't your brother think to do that during his thorough search?"

While I wanted to defend my brother at that, I knew that this was really Airachnid's test and that meant that she needed to be tested, not doing the testing. "Idiot." Didn't mean that I had to be nice about it. "The ship's systems haven't been activated for eons. The Autobots could detect its energy signature."

But, she didn't seem to care about that as she seemed to study the screen in front of her before she smirked and said, "Ah, here it is. Section 23." She then started to move off, without messing with the monitor, before saying, "Are you going to come or are you seekers only good for fighting in the air?"

I growled internally at that before I moved to follow behind the femme. She was leaving the monitor on but I couldn't let her out of my sight and turn off the monitor. So, I had to follow the femme. Plus, it was usually wise to not allow the hunter femme out of my sight. "The sooner we are done the better." I muttered low to myself. I was ready to get back to the Nemesis and away from this psychotic femme.

The two of us continued to move down the hall and, after a while, I smirked as Airachnid was stopped by a wall of dirt in front of her. Yeah, if she would have actually looked up any information on the Nemesis before we left while we had the chance, then she would have known that the Harbinger had been under attack when it had entered this atmosphere and then split apart into two pieces in the air. There was this half, which we came to first, and there was a second half.

"Section 23 should be right about here!" She growled out in anger, her servos clenching in anger before she continued. "The ship just ends!" From the hissing sound in her voice, she must have not been very happy. "It must have broken in half during the crash." She then seemed to pause as she thought. "Or in the air."

I shook my helm at her observation. If she would have done proper research on the Nemesis before coming, she wouldn't be in this situation. "If you performed actual research," I started as she started to glare toward me. I was on the dangerous ground but the point of my testing her was to push her to her limit...no matter how much danger those times could put me in...like right now. "you would have learned that an Autobot battalion shot the Harbinger out of the sky."

"How far away is the other half?" She snarled at me as she took an almost feral stance against me.

While my frantically beating spark was telling me to just tell her, a part of this mission was for how she could get information before and prepare for what was ahead of her. She had known she was coming to the Harbinger and had not done any of the necessary research to provide any support as she should. She was supposed to be the 'information' leader of the mission, yet she had done none of the research.

So, since I was more afraid of Lord Megatron than I was of Airachnid, I decided to push her further. "I'm afraid that information is still on the Nemesis. My job was to find out about the terrain between whatever landscapes I knew of. However, it was supposed to be yours to find out where the two halves of the ship were located and make sure that we don't get compromised on the mission by the enemy." I was pretty sure that my outward appearance was much more controlled than my inward one...which was freaking out like a bot in a room of scraplets.

"What are you…" She started with her optics wide before she narrowed them and hissed in a challenge. "You're trying to make me look like a fool before Lord Megatron! Have me return empty-servoed while you locate the weapon yourself!" She looked on edge to attack.

"How dare you accuse me!" I challenged her. This was her make-up test. If I wanted to interfere with that, which I really couldn't care less because then that would put me in danger of being under scrutiny, Lord Megatron would have Vox and Soundwave digging into my movements on the ship to see if I was really trying to interfere and I would get caught. I'm not an idiot! "You are nothing but a scavenger...an opportunist! I live to serve Lord Megatron and the Decepticon cause. Your only master is yourself."

She did not take kindly to that and, before I could even counter her, Airachnid had me webbed to the ground so I couldn't move.

She was then right in front of me before she spoke. "You won't live to serve anybot if you don't tell me where to find the rest of this ship." I gave her a hard look in return before she leaned closer. "Now."

I could hear the threat in her voice so I decided that living another solar was needed. "A few clicks north of here, through a stone arch." She then smirked and let go before starting to walk away. "Where are you going? Release me now!" I yelled after her.

She, in turn, smirked at me before saying, "When I have the weapon in servo...that is, if I can find my way back without my guide." She then started to walk off.

This wasn't good at all. With Airachnid's blunder earlier, the Autobots would be here soon...if they weren't already. "This is not funny, Airachnid. Come back here right now and cut me loose!" She kept on walking away. "Airachnid, that is an order!" I was her evaluator on this and that meant that I could give her orders. "Airachnid!" Silence. And the femme was gone.

Scrap this wasn't good. Now I was going to be stuck here and, thanks to the depth underground we were, I wasn't going to get a signal out for a pickup from the Nemesis.

"Surrender." Nevermind. That was the sound of Optimus Prime. That meant that the Autobots were here and, if Airachnid didn't cut me free, then I was going to be a prisoner of the Autobots! If I was hoping for a rescue, then I would have been very disappointed when the spider just walked above me and started to tunnel her way out.

Looking back to the Autobots following, I saw that Arcee and the other two-wheeler known as Zarron were giving chase to the spider femme. Great. Hope they caught her and turned her into mashed metal. Anyways, I took in the other Autobots around me and saw that, besides their leader, there were Pitch, Wheeljack, Flamewar, and Blurr. Joy. I was either going to be killed by the two wild cards Pitch and Flamewar, or who knows what else by the others. Lizzie was going to have my helm for getting into trouble like this.

While their leader ran back the way they came, probably to help the two two-wheelers who were chasing Airachnid, I felt myself picked up and I shot a glare at the Wrecker as he did so. At least I wasn't stuck to the ground now. Though, with how many Autobots were around me, I didn't see me getting away anytime soon...if I could at all.

"Move it!" The one called Flamewar barked before shoving my shoulder. Fragging femme.

I let out a growl but started to move forward. I was now a prisoner of the enemy and my one objective was to remain online. "No need to use force." I grumbled as we moved toward an exit. Once we were back outside, I saw that Airachnid was gone, probably going after the weapon, and I was alone surrounded by the enemy.

This was fan-fragging-tastic.

" _Thundercracker, what's your condition?~Starscream."_ It was hard not to flinch in surprise when I suddenly got that message from Starscream. Were they watching all of this?

" _Airachnid used me as a fall-bot to distract the Autobots while she escaped to go after the weapon and now I'm their captive. What does the Coordinator say I should do?~Thundercracker."_ I sent back to him as the Autobots started to regroup. Hopefully, Lizzie would get me an answer through Starscream soon or answering the Autobots was going to be awkward.

" _Thundercracker, this is Coordinator. Act like you are fully cooperating with the Autobots and lead them to the second half of the ship. Say that you aren't betraying the Decepticons but want Airachnid to get her own for leaving you in this situation. They will get nervous around you and will want to ask what you want for helping them. If you want, you can even kick off the conversation with them to throw them off their game. Troops will come to the second location when the time is right to retrieve both you and Airachnid. Stay alive.~Coordinator."_ I would have been shocked that Lizzie responded on her own frequency if I didn't know that Soundwave had set her helmet up with her own frequency and she could use speech-to-text technology to speak the words she wanted to send to us and it signed it Coordinator just in case the enemy got into our private comms.

" _You got it, Coordinator.~Thundercracker."_ I responded to her before I was pushed to my knees in front of the Autobots, who were circling me. It made me uncomfortable but, as Coordinator suggested, I decided to start this off and throw them off their games."I'll tell you where Airachnid went."

The Autobots looked wary at that, and off their game like Lizzie guessed they would be, before the one called Wheeljack asked, "Is that right? And what do you want in return?" And here is the tip-for-tap that Lizzie was expecting. Sometimes, that human was too good at predicting the Autobots. Of course, they didn't make it that hard.

So I answered the Autobot. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I want to be on your side and I'm not betraying the Decepticon cause. However, Airachnid has betrayed me in leaving me here to be captured by you and I want her to get what is coming to her. Our goals are aligned for now." Seemed like a decent answer.

However, the Autobots didn't look convinced. "Isn't ratting out one of your own the same as a betrayal?" The one called Zarron asked me with a studying look. Something seemed off about that Autobot, but I wasn't sure if it was a bad 'off' yet.

"No. Being in the Decepticons allows me to take retribution against Airachnid for leaving me to be captured by you without a way to defend myself and get away. This is my way of doing so. I don't plan on informing you of any Decepticon plans or saying any information that could hurt the Decepticon cause. I just want that femme to get what is coming to her." Instead of doubt, I actually saw what looked like a flash of understanding cross the two-wheeler's faceplate. I was going to ask Soundwave if he had more information on that Autobot once I got back to the Nemesis.

Also, just because I seemed to have convinced Zarron of my goals, that didn't mean that the rest of the Autobots were ready to accept them. "Yeah, right." Pitch started before he shook his helm. "And I've been lobbing with the Fallen." Wouldn't surprise me if that scraplet lobbed with the Fallen.

But, I couldn't say otherwise for now. I was, unfortunately, at their mercy for now. "She abandoned me, left me for scrap. So, why not give her up?" I drove my point with a hard stare directly at their Prime. It was risky since this was a mech who regularly battled with Lord Megatron.

After the Autobots seemed to have their little meeting, leaving the two-wheeler Zarron to watch me, they all seemed to turn to me and, from their looks, it seemed like they were going to take me up on my offer. I hoped that the fragging spider looked surprised when she saw the Autobots show up so soon to take her down a few pegs.

 **Wheeljack's 1st P.O.V.**

"Be still, my beating spark." I said out loud in surprise as we pulled through the arch that Thundercracker had directed us too and, sure enough, he had been telling the truth. Never thought I'd see the solar where a Decepticon was telling the truth.

"What do you know?" Flamewar snapped at me. "Could still be a trap."

While I wanted to argue with the femme, now didn't seem like the time. We were going into dangerous territory and we didn't know what Airachnid was after in this ship since Thundercracker refused to say if he knew or not. That, in my opinion, just showed me more that he was actually telling the truth. He told us that he wasn't going to be betraying the Decepticons during this, so whatever Airachnid was after was something that Megatron and the Decepticons wanted as well.

"Rise and shine, 'Crackey." I heard Pitch taunt our prisoner before pulling him out of Optimus' trailer. I even flinched as Thundercracker hit the ground on his wings, slightly bending them. He was cooperating and that seemed excessive. "We're here." Pitch said as he pushed a glaring Thundercracker toward us, causing the seeker to fall to his knees.

"Where's the ship?" Blurr asked the Decepticon.

Said Decepticon motioned toward the stone arch...well the best he seemed able to with his cuffs on, before saying, "It's through the arch, among the stones." He then smirked before saying, "I'm sure that even you Autobots couldn't miss it."

While it looked like Pitch wanted to hit him, the truck mech didn't get the chance as Optimus started to speak. "Blurr, Pitch, Flamewar, Arcee, Zarron; you are with me." Prime then turned to me before saying, "Wheeljack, remain with our prisoner."

Great.

But, it was better than the alternative of having to go into the field with Pitch and Flamewar. I knew that they bothered Zarron and I knew that they bothered me as well. I'd rather stay on prisoner duty alone than have to be with them. It might be wrong to think that, but I didn't care.

"You got it Optimus." I said with a nod, though I wasn't very enthusiastic about it.

Optimus stared at me for a few nanos before he nodded and said, "Autobots, roll out." The others then transformed and followed our leader toward the other half of the ship, and Airachnid.

Once they were gone, however, I turned and looked at Thundercracker and I noticed that something seemed off. For being a prisoner of the enemy, he seemed a little too relaxed. Was his getting captured planned? Thinking back on the situation we came up on, I doubted that. But, with the Decepticons, you never really did know what they were thinking.

And that was especially lately.

For a reason that none of us had been able to figure out yet, the Decepticons were acting much less...Decepticon-ish, than they normally did. They weren't just using their drones as cannon-fodder, they were rescuing their own when they were in trouble and they worked more closely as a unit than they ever did. Of course, this little bit with Airachnid and Thundercracker here wasn't adding to this weird stuff but the way that Thundercracker was acting definitely was.

You know what, since Paul had to be sent back to the base since he was found by Blurr sneaking along the treeline before we came underground, I guess I could see if Thundercracker would give me any information about the human they had. "So, going to tell me anything about the condition of the human girl you all are keeping up in your ship? Lizzie's her name if you don't know it."

To my surprise, Thundercracker slipped a small glare at me before his expression returned to normal and he shook his helm. "No."

"Why not? The human can't be that important to you 'Cons so come on. Give me just a little something I can say to her boss. He worries about her." I tried to push at the seeker.

But, I wasn't destined to get anywhere with that as he simply glared at me before saying, "No." The seeker then started to fidget, which got me nervous, before he said, "Is the clamp really necessary? It's really giving me a crick."

Now it was my turn to shoot him a look, this one asking if he was really asking me that, before I said, "I can shove you back in the trailer."

That caused the seeker to glare at me and turn so he wasn't facing me. Great. Now he wasn't going to talk to me. This was going to be a boring watch that was for sure. "I'm not really so bad, you know." I jumped when Thundercracker suddenly said that. What was he going on about?

So, I figured I'd push him a little. "Tell it to someone who cares."

"Isn't that what the Autobots are supposed to be known for? The faction that cares?" He shot back at me with a serious look.

And that statement caused me to freeze. I hated to admit it, but he was right. Autobots were always preaching about equality and fairness for all, that we cared about any who were suffering and would be there for others when they wanted to talk. True, I wasn't exactly the 'model' Autobot, but some of the stuff those old infomercials would talk about was part of the reason I joined the Autobots. They were a faction that was supposed to care for those around them...even at times those who were different from us or had different views.

But lately, from what I had seen here on Earth at least, those roles seemed to be shifting. Here were the Decepticons, taking care of their own and putting the safety of their soldiers above the success of the mission, though they had been doing a lot of succeeding lately. On the other side, the Autobot side...technically my side, we had Zarron here doing internal affairs work because Autobots here on Earth, those right under the command of the Prime, might be traitors to the Autobots. Here, we had bots that I wouldn't trust to talk to, let alone put my spark in their servos during battle.

I shook my helm out of those thoughts when I heard the sound of a rocket and had to jump back to avoid getting hit. In response, I took out my own blaster and started to fire shots at the area where the shots had come from. After a few clicks of fire going back at forth, the other side stopped and the sand cleared up enough so I could see what was going on.

What I saw, though, just caused me to add another item to the list of the non-Decepticon way that the Decepticons were acting. Helping Thundercracker get out of the servo cuffs, since the wing cuffs were already removed, was Starscream and he seemed to be lecturing the other seeker. On the cliffs where the shots had been fired at were drones and the third bot of Starscream's trine, Skywarp, who I were guessing had shot at me before.

They had performed a rescue operation while I was the only Autobot around guarding him. Thundercracker must have been using the private comm system while he was keeping me distracted. However, they didn't take advantage that I was alone to offline me or seriously injure me. While I doubted that the drones would do much against me, I knew that Skywarp was another matter and, since Thundercracker was now free, they could have a three on one advantage on me.

Yet, the drones and Skywarp were simply regrouping with Thundercracker and Skywarp while they looked on at me with a strange look. "Let's go." Starscream simply said before they turned to the now open ground bridge behind them and started to walk through it.

I couldn't help but stare dumbfounded at where the Decepticons had been standing. I honestly probably looked like a scraplet looking at organic matter. But this was weird. Not to brag, but I was probably on a few 'Con top Autobot to offline lists and here I was, definitely outnumbered and they might have even had a chance against me.

But they just left. What the frag was going on with the Decepticons these solars?

"Where is the prisoner?"

The sound of the question snapped me out of my stupor and I turned to see the other Autobots coming. Pitch, who was the one who addressed me, was glaring as he walked over to me. Great, now I had to deal with this idiot? Once they were over to me, I shook me helm at him. "The 'Cons sent a rescue party for him and I was pinned down. Nothing I could really do about it."

"Nothing you could do about it?" Flamewar started at me. "You could have meched up and,"

"Enough." Flamewar paused as Optimus intervened. Good for her that he did. Otherwise, I would have had some choice words for the glitch as well. She was getting on my last nerves and I was tired of her. "There was nothing that any of us could have done to change what has happened. We were unprepared for the intervention of the rest of the Decepticons on both sides of the situation."

Both sides? Did that mean that, "The Decepticons showed up when we had Airachnid cornered and Blitzwing took her through their groundbridge while Shockwave and Breakdown fought us back. They got the immobilizer too." Zarron replied rather calmly as he looked to me. I could see a look of understanding in his optics and, if I wasn't mistaken a little look of mischief. Guess he enjoyed stopping the false pride train that Flamewar and Pitch were trying to ride.

"Guess we all let them get away. Glad I meched up and admitted that at least." I agreed with Zarron while taking a jab at Flamewar for the comment she had been making to me before Optimus interrupted.

"Why you," Flamewar started.

However, Optimus was just in time to interrupt again. "Autobots, it is time we return to base. When we return, get some rest." Even I could hear the tone in his voice that said to drop everything. Well, I was ending with a win so I'd listen.

Once we got through the bridge, I saw that Paul was in the human area. He was asleep on the couch but I could see that it wasn't a restful sleep. Made me wish that I could have found something out for him. Something to make that crazy human worry less. I noticed that he hadn't been asking about his employee, Lizzie, whenever we came back from missions that the Decepticons were involved with. He snuck with, yes, but he didn't talk about his concern for Lizzie to anyone except maybe Miko.

Hopefully, with more training sessions in the future, I could get Paul to open up a little. There was too much stress on his human brain and I wasn't sure how long it would take it for it to crash on him. Shaking my helm, I walked over to the area and picked up the human. His room was on the way to my own and I could go into my soliform when I arrived and take him inside. While the human's pride might be injured slightly, I was sure he would feel better sleeping the rest of his recharge in his own berth then on the couch.

 **Lizzie's 1st P.O.V.**

"You left Thundercracker with the Autobots? Do you have any notion of the consequences of your blunder?!" I wanted to smirk as Lord Megatron ripped Airachnid a new one. She had messed up on her test and, normally, I wouldn't have hesitated in allowing myself a smirk at this victory in our non-physical war.

But, I couldn't be bothered to at the moment. Internally, I was shaking with relief. I had been so terrified, frightened even, when Lord Megatron assigned Thundercracker to go with Airachnid to the Harbinger to retrieve the immobilizer. I know that I screwed up at that point, letting my worry show on my face, but I couldn't help it.

In the original timeline, this was the episode where Starscream betrayed the Decepticons and then escaped the Autobots and became neutral, which caused its own problems. But, this was a completely different timeline now. Thundercracker could be going on this mission and, honestly, he probably had a high chance of not coming back to us online.

"But, my lordship, it was Thundercracker's incompetence that almost cost us the immobilizer." I barely heard Airachnid try to argue. Pathetic really that she tried to blame Thundercracker for this mistake when she clearly left him to the mercy of the Autobots and, with Pitch and Flamewar having been present with the Autobots, that had made my concern for Thundercracker's safety even higher. I was more than relieved when Starscream had reported that he, Skywarp, and the drones we had sent with them were able to rescue Thundercracker.

"I don't care about some trinket." Lord Megatron growled at the hunter femme and I paid attention. It was never a good idea to not pay attention when he spoke. "One of my top lieutenants was a prisoner of the enemy, and if it wasn't for the intervention of Lizzie, would have remained as such. Do you not comprehend what that means?" He was not happy in the slightest and Airachnid was being hit hard for her blunder. While this was in no means a failure, unfortunately, on her part, this would restrict Airachnid to a sort of 'house arrest' for a time until Lord Megatron was ready to test her again. "That could have meant that all Decepticon intelligence that Thundercracker had access to could have been at servo's length of the Autobots!"

He was not happy and his saying that reminded me at just what danger Thundercracker was in during that mission. If I was not asked to be here for this by Lord Megatron, I would already be on my way to Thundercracker to check on him. I felt like I was shaking internally at this worry that had been building up inside of me since the beginning of this test. But, I had to restrain myself. I had to stay in a stoic form while watching Lord Megatron reprimand Airachnid. I had to give witness to this since I was the main target for Airachnid and the reason that she was tested both of these times and Astrotrain was tested that once.

I heard Lord Megatron tell Airachnid of her ship arrest before she seemed to hesitate before bowing her helm. "Yes...my Lord."

"You are dismissed to your quarters." Lord Megatron demanded her. She nodded and turned, though I definitely did not miss the glare that she sent towards me, before she left the bridge. "You are dismissed from here as well Lizzie." Lord Megatron addressed me.

In return, I bowed to him. "As you wish Lord Megatron." Then, I made sure to calmly leave the bridge, once my helmet was back on since I now wore it when not in the presence of Lord Megatron or Soundwave.

Once the door to the bridge was closed behind me, I didn't waste a nano and crawled up at top speed to the vent. Once it was opened, I swung inside, shut the grate behind me, and ran down the vent toward Starscream's room at top speed. I knew that was where Thundercracker would be and, even though this would be taken as a sign of weakness, I didn't give a scrap. I had to see with my own eyes, inspect with my own hands, that Thundercracker was really alright.

So many bad things could have come out of this and, while there were definitely some close calls from what Thundercracker had reported to Lord Megatron before he had gone to Starscream's room, not much could have gone better here. But, I had to see him up close. Bots knew how to hide injuries from a distance and I wanted to make sure, up close and personal, that he was alright.

It didn't take me long before I reached the grate to Starscream's room. I didn't even hesitate as I crashed through it with a jump and started to fall toward the surprised mechs below me. Primus be fragged about holding back on my emotions right now. I needed this. Once I landed on the berth next to T.C., which was a miracle on its own, I didn't hesitate in ripping off my helmet and throwing it aside. As it hit the berth, I raced up to Thundercracker's arm and hugged it the best I could.

I felt tears of relief flood down my face as I did but I didn't care. I had been so scared...so worried. Not only was it my job as a strategist to make sure that everybot came back online...even if it wasn't my mission plan being used, but I also found myself looking at my fellow Decepticons as a family.

...Well, not Airachnid or Astrotrain but the point was there.

From behind me, I heard Skywarp let out a small teasing laugh. "What's this? The Coordinator is letting her guard down for a bit?"

To my surprise, though I didn't stop letting the tears fall, Starscream also took this moment to tease me. "You know, if this is the reaction we get out of you for going on dangerous missions, maybe I should go on,"

"Don't even joke like that!" I snapped at him, my arms shaking as I held onto Thundercracker's arm. "You have no idea how much I worry! Yes I get to go on some missions, but you have no idea what it's like to be me. To watch all of you leave each time for a mission and fear that you aren't coming back. This," I then let out a hiccup as I stuttered over my words. I wasn't used to vomiting my words like this. "I don't like worrying that you all aren't coming back. It hurts. I...I…"

I felt Thundercracker lean against the wall by his berth but I didn't pay attention until I suddenly felt arms wrap around my shoulders. Not tightly though, so I could turn and see Thundercracker's soliform, Terrance, standing there giving me a hug. Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw Starscream's soliform, Stewart, and Skywarp's soliform, called Sawyer, coming over to me.

I started to cry more as the other two joined Terrance in hugging me. I knew I shouldn't be allowing myself to feel like this, to show so much emotion in the open, but I had been so scared when Thundercracker left for that mission, and even more so when he had told Starscream that he was captured by the Autobots. I had been terrified. That was especially since they had Pitch and Flamewar there with them.

"Hey, don't start crying again Lizzie." Terrance laughed as the three of them were around me. I pushed my head into his chest, definitely not ready to stop crying, before he sighed. "Look, Lizzie. You have every right to worry, and we're sorry for giving you a hard time. We just think that you've been pushing yourself too much lately."

I chuckled at that but felt my eyes growing heavy. All the stress of the solar were finally hitting me and it was hard to stay awake.

"Ah, and I think you need some recharge." Stewart laughed at me.

While I wanted to pout at Stewart laughing at me, I was too tired to argue and felt myself slump slightly against their soliform bodies, which were surprisingly warm. "Mhm." I mumbled as a response as I got comfy against Terrance'ssoliform. I felt my feet leave the floor, though I was really too tired to panic, and heard a new voice before my vision went dark and sleep found me.

* * *

 **Authoress: *tears* That was so adorable! I want to snuggle with seeker soliforms!**

 **Starscream: *shakes helm* You need to snap out of that Authoress. You have more important duties to start in on.**

 **Authoress: *confused* What do you mean?**

 **Thundercracker: *motions to laptop* How about another chapter. We don't know as much as you do, Authoress, but something is telling me that you are building up to something.**

 **Authoress: *slips a smirk* A few things actually. *walks away***

 **Skywarp: *Had warped in when she said that* Something tells me that isn't good.**

* * *

 **AN: So here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did! We get to see some fun in this chapter with the Autobots, and a practice session with the Autobots to boot! If I remember correctly right now (and I am too cold and lazy to go looking back through to see if I have already done one) this is my first showing of what Paul's training sessions with the Autobots are like. Then, with the Decepticons, we see the tests.**

 **I do feel like I have to do some explaining on that. The reason that Airachnid is getting so many tests, whereas Lizzie only had her one, is because Airachnid has been an official member of the Decepticons for a good deal longer than Lizzie was during her test. Though, I have to say that the spider is definitely pushing the envelope on what she is going to get away with. While we didn't see Astrotrain during this, I have to say that he has to be careful even though he is not in the same trouble boat that Airachnid is in.**

 **Okay, and I have to say this again, I loved the scene at the end with Lizzie and the Seekers! Lizzie has really come to care for every bot on the Nemesis (outside of Airachnid and Astrotrain obviously) and she was scared when Thundercracker was sent with Airachnid. The knowledge that she had from the show and the lack of knowledge she had in this changed world caused Lizzie to break down and she just needed a hug! *enjoys cuddles!***

 **Next chapter is going to have some tensions with the Autobots and a peek into Zarron and a little of his past. Should bring some more information out about his character in this. Not much will actually be seen with the Decepticons and Lizzie on the episode side of things, but I have at least one really interesting scene planned with Lizzie and another soliform at the end of the chapter. Last thing I'll say about that is that it might show you some about where I am planning events to lead eventually.**

 **Now, for the names of the next chapters!**

 **Chapter 21: K.I.S.S - _T.M.I_**

 **Chapter 22: How to Deal with Pressure - _Stronger, Faster_**

 **Chapter 23: ...? (Do I need to explain?)**

 **Oh, one more note I want to make about the chapter names. As we near the end of season 1, I will not reveal the names for the chapters for season 2 until I post the first chapter of season 2, which will be chapter 26. So, as the chapters come to a close, you won't be seeing three (technically two) listed. Just wanted to give you a helms up!**

 **Now, I guess that is all for now! Plese review if you have a spare click! I even like just the word 'hi' if you don't know what to put. Lets me know you are there. XD Until next time, TTYL! *sings about unleashing the magic***


	22. KISS

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

* * *

 **Lizzie: *angry* What the frag Authoress? It's been what? Months? And I'm supposed to be surviving on the Nemesis while you get to be curled up on some couch with a...what is that?**

 **Authoress: *hides drink* Now Lizzie, I didn't mean to slack off on your story. I even have it outline pretty far ahead. I just...get distracted.**

 **Vox: *motions to hidden drink* And what is that drink behind your back?**

 **Authoress: *guilty chuckle* Nothing.**

* * *

Chapter 21: K.I.S.S.

 **Lizzie's 1st P.O.V.**

My breath stuttered as I ran back and forth between the barriers that Thundercracker and Vox set up for me. With me being allowed out in the field, thanks to my suit, the other bots thought that it was fitting that my training increase in difficulty. So, even though I was still getting used to firing a blaster period, I now had to take evasive fire and pray that I could aim this thing moderately well.

"Keep your grip on your blaster!" I quickly remedied my grip and gave one nod before checking around another corner once T.C. said that. Immediately, I had to hide behind the barrier as a paintball came flying toward me at speeds no human paintball gun could produce. When I did get hit with those, unless it hit my helmet, it resulted in quite the bruise. I had one on my butt that was the size of a

"Don't forget to have your blaster servo closest to the opening!" And that was Vox. Yes, he knew that my hand was called a hand by humans, but I had asked everybot to refer to that stuff on me by the same terms that they used. I figured that them doing that would help me get into the habit better.

While he hadn't said anything about me using human terminology yet, I figured that it was best to get a head start on it. Try to predict Lord Megatron and all. I was in good graces so far, but since I was causing tension with the spider and Astrotrain, I had to be careful.

Reaching around the corner so my body was out of the firing line, I fired some shots at the device shooting at me. After about ten seconds, I sprinted across the way until I was behind another barrier. The objective of this training simulation was to get as close to the target as I could, and hopefully take it out, all while avoiding enemy fire and bonus points for 'taking them out'.

Of course, they were shielded so I wouldn't actually take them out but the shield registered if the shot would take it out. All in all, this made for a nice system for training me without wasting too many resources.

Taking out another defense, my mind went to the recovery mission this solar. Thankfully not planned out by me, I knew that this was the mission for the cylinder that held the formula for synthetic energon. While normally I would want the Autobots to get it if this had gone normally, now I was not sure about it. True, the Autobots probably needed it more than we did in one sense since they didn't have many if any, energon mines that they could access. However, being with the Decepticons now made me realize that they needed every mine that they could keep going because of the number of troops that they had to sustain. Not only did they have the main troops, like the Autobots, but they also had hundreds upon hundreds of drones to care for as well.

I wasn't that big of an issue right now since all they had to do for my food was raid food pantries and other places like that. I was pretty sure that they had even raided a Little Debbie factory at one point. My food pantry was still stuffed full of the cakes that were brought back from that food run. I bet that if I looked up about recent unusual robberies, then I might find something about that.

I wasn't quite ready to tell the other Decepticons about health and how humans should be given a balanced meal plan. I was just lucky that I was getting food. So, Little Debbie cakes worked just fine for me for now. Maybe I would ask for something a little healthier if I survived to season three. Of course, I should keep moving to get past season one in one piece.

While Airachnid and Astrotrain had kept their distance from me for a while, I had a very good feeling that they were not done with me yet. As I took out the target, I sighed as that thought continued to beat in my head. As a strategist, I knew that I had to keep up on what was going on around me because that could affect how laid out my strategies.

"Not bad in there Lizzie." I turned to Terrance and John as the soliforms walked up to me. Terrance, who had spoken, continued. "You just need to make sure that you keep your blaster servo relaxed a little more when gripping it. You had the thing in a death grip and it was messing with your aim."

John then spoke up. "Plus, you need to watch how your chassis is situated. There were a few times where you were delayed in firing because you stopped in an awkward stance." I hadn't realized that. I knew that I had been gripping the heck out of the blaster, which was something that I needed to fix, but I hadn't caught on that my footwork during this training was that bad. I did alright with it during servo to servo training so I guess I let it slide here. Not a mistake that I would be making again.

"Sounds good bots." I responded as my way of saying that I would definitely work on it.

Terrance looked like he was about to say something else when he paused. That might not be so good. Hopefully, it was something simple like "Sorry to cut this short Lizzie, but Vox and I have to go on patrol now."

Good. Patrol was simple and not worrisome for me. So, I shrugged at that and nodded. "It's all good you two. I could use a break anyway. See you both later?"

John seemed relieved. "Thanks, Lizzie. I'll show you a few tricks that you can use to get over your grip issue later."

"And I have a few training exercises that you can work on to improve your stance." Terrance added before the two of them moved to the door. While they were supposed to be using Cybertronian words around me, I was helping them learn about blending in with humanity better and suddenly disappearing when finished with a conversation, not such a good idea.

Once they were gone, though, I let out a sigh. I really hadn't wanted to keep working on blaster work. While I knew it was important for me, my lack of previous experience made me feel like I wasn't improving when it came to my training.

However, as I put my helmet back on, I knew that there was one kind of training that I did here that I did feel like I improved in a lot. "Hey Blitz, you there?" I started a call to the triple changer.

It didn't take long for my favorite triple changer to respond. " _Hey Lizzie! What are you up to?"_ Random greeted me. Since either Icy or Hothead were normally the dominant personas out, Random usually was the one that answered my calls.

"Nothing too much Random." I answered him as I started to make my way out of the range. "What are you three up to right now?"

" _ **We are at one of the mines right now."**_ Hothead answered that question. **"** _ **Why do you want to know? You aren't planning anything with Random again are you? I had to sit with Shockwave for a psychotherapy session after the last stunt you two did! I do not want to sit in another one! Do you hear me?!**_ **"**

I flinched at Hothead's rant. But, at the same time, a smirk found its way on my face. That stunt was pretty cool in retrospect. I got Random to act like he was being taken over by a fourth personality while Breakdown was walking by. Made him act like it was going to be a psycho-killer. Breakdown freaked out so bad that he told Knockout, and next thing Blitzwing knew, Knockout was there knocking him out with a sedative. He then had to sit in a therapy session with Shockwave until he proved that there were only three personalities in that head of his and not four like he was pretending.

While he had been doing that, though, I had been able to avoid my checkup with Knockout long enough to get some more work done on the Praxian database. Even better, Blitz didn't squeal that I put him up to it, so I didn't get in trouble for that stunt. Of course, now I owed Blitzwing majorly.

Speaking on Knockout, though, the good doc had started work on studying human medical practices and he enjoyed getting to work with me during the checkups. It took four of them, though, to convince the good doctor that the best thing for him to do to learn the information most accurately was to actually use the soliform for the checkups instead of his actual form.

Well, it took talking and him getting his digit…

...Mentally forgetting that image again.

Focusing back on my conversation with Blitz, I decided to ease Hothead's worry. "Don't worry Blitz, nothing like that. I was actually wondering if the three of you wouldn't mind working with me on some hand to hand combat training later? I just finished blaster lessons with Thundercracker and Vox and, after I take a break and work on the Praxian database some more, then I could use a few rounds with physical training."

Even though we were communicating through the comm unit in the helmet I was wearing, I would swear to my dying day that I felt a smirk from the other side before Hothead answered. **"** _ **Oh, then we would love to work with you. But, can you wait? Our shift here won't be done with for another seven cycles. Eight cycles until we work out sound good?"**_

Well, it would give me a lot of time to work on the database. Plus, it looked like Shockwave was working on something fun when we were working together last. This would give me time to see what the mech was up to. "Sounds good Blitz. See the three of you then." I then hung up the line before moving toward Shockwave's lab. I had a long time before my training session with Blitzwing and I had to make sure that I didn't get bored before then.

 **Zarron's 1st P.O.V.**

This wasn't right. If I wasn't such a logical bot at times, then I would think that Primus just had to fragging hate me right now. Finally, after Earth weeks of investigation, I brought in a confidant here in the form of Wheeljack and what happens?

Oh, that's right...we go out for a simple recovery mission and the item we were going after gets activated by Paul running into it and a beam has, according to the doc, slammed a scrap-ton of information into Wheeljack's helm. Information, according to him, that held the secret to creating a form of synthetic energon. With how strained the reserves are right now, then this was important.

But, just a few clicks ago, we found a problem with that. Wheeljack was starting to become so absorbed in the formula that it was taking over his processor. He was losing his memories and that was not something that should happen to a bot, no matter what.

But, from the consensus that was going around the room right now, then it looked like some bots thought that it would be worth sacrificing Wheeljack to get the information. As it stood, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Blaster, and his symbiots were the only ones to definitively say that we needed to save Wheeljack before the information took over his processor completely.

On the other servo though, Pitch, Sentinel, Flamewar, and surprisingly Arcee seemed to think that it was more important to get the information than it was to save one of our own. With Ironhide's iffy answer just now, it seemed like I was the only one who hadn't said anything about the situation. Everbot else seemed to be with Ironhide on the fence about the situation.

Frag it! We were Autobots! This was a situation that we would study about the Decepticons, and what they would do! Why was it so difficult for these bots to see that no matter the cost, we needed to save our comrades. From what I studied when the war started, this was the kind of decision that Decepticons alone would make to gain information. The fact that there were Autobots in front of me, Autobots that seemed to be on the up and up, who were hesitant about saving one of our own was driving me insane!

This mission of mine was becoming even more complicated. Even Cliffjumper, who I was sure that I could clear, was hesitant in what should be done about Wheeljack. Now, all the Autobots here were suspect in my investigation...again. Frag, I was going to need a high grade after all this was done with.

"What about you Zarron?" Optimus directed the fated question toward me. This shouldn't even be a question, and yet here we were. It took all of my willpower not to glare at the bots surrounding me as Optimus continued. "What do you believe should be done?"

"What _I_ think should be done?" I restated his question. I could feel anger boiling in my lines right now and I was not happy with how this solar was going. "What I think _Prime_ is that the lot of you need to get your helms out of your afts if this is even a question right now. Wheeljack is one of our comrades...one of our allies, and most of you lot are ready to throw him in with the cyber-wolves." Before I blew up even more, I decided it might be best to return to my room for now. I would not do Wheeljack any good if I was out here tearing Sentinel apart and making Ratchet have to stop working on him to fix the aft. "I'm going to my room. Don't disturb me unless something changes with Wheeljack."

"We will." Optimus answered and I could see a want for him to stop me. But, with the tension storm that I just caused, he hopefully realized that it was best for me to get away from this fragging toxic environment for now.

Resisting the urge to shake my helm in annoyance, I turned and made my way down the housing hall. Once I was at my room, I opened my door and walked inside before pausing. Once the door was shut behind me, and I locked it, I snarled and grabbed the closest loose object, which was one of the sharpening stones that I had out earlier, and threw it with all of my strength. The opposing wall had a large indent in it now as the stone laid on the ground.

As my systems cycled, I fought with myself for control. Those fragging monsters! Even considering putting my friend's existence in danger like this...all to get some fragging formula! What happened to the Autobot side where this was even being considered an option? If this was the time of the war when I had joined, then there would be talk of court marshaling and exile for any Autobot who spoke out like this when the situation threatened the health and safety of another Autobot.

Glancing at the table next to my berth, I saw one of the datapads that Balm gave me before I left that had some medical information on it. Maybe they would have something on them that would help me find something that would help Wheeljack fight back against this virus...for that was what this was, and help him beat it. I didn't care about what happened with that Primus-forsaken formula. It could get lost forever for all I cared about it.

As my optics scanned the information on the datapads in front of me, my processor drifted to that night-cycle that I had left my Autobot contingent. One of my other friends, Tana, had offered to come with me. She had been so demanding...as she normally is, that I had almost given into her back then. Thinking now about the situation that I was in, I found myself almost angry that I didn't let her come with.

But, then my processor reminded me about who was here and I knew that I couldn't. I couldn't have let Tana come with me no matter how much of a good idea it seemed to be. She, and the Guardians as a whole, had a past with Sentinel Major that was not good and if I brought her here, then I would be stirring up that trouble and, with everything else that I had to compete with, it would just hinder my investigation even more.

Letting out a sigh, my rage from earlier gone but not the anger that it brought, I continued to search through the data pads. If there was a previous answer to the problem we were now facing, then it would be here in the notes that Balm sent with me. She knew my penchant for trouble and always made sure that I had ways to help myself.

 **Paul's 1st P.O.V.**

Well, outside of Zarron's little hissy-fit just a bit ago, then this was turning out to be going just how it should. I had to admit that, when Wheeljack had ended up in the path of the beam once I hit the cylinder, instead of Bulkhead, I was worried. Wheeljack seemed to be causing change when I really didn't want it. Even now, this episode was changed in the fact that Wheeljack was currently in a forced stasis while the others talked about what to do.

But, outside of that, the episode was following suit. The formula was taking over Wheeljack's processor and he was writing out bits of it on the walls. Something that wasn't worth worrying over yet was that Ratchet was not pushing for Wheeljack to keep the formula in his processor like Arcee was. Unlike in the actual show, Ratchet was in the camp that wanted to get the formula out of Wheeljack immediately. He had even said it bluntly without hiding it. One of the few Autobots who did so.

While it would be painful to keep watching this like we were, I knew that as long as we remained vigilant then we would be able to get the portion of the formula that we needed while, at the same time, saving Wheeljack from losing his processor completely. This was a delicate situation but, with the past information in our playbook, then Miko and I had to make sure that we followed what should be going on. If anything else started to move away from how this episode of time was supposed to work, then we could very well have issues in keeping everything together.

And that could be deadly with everything that has been going on. Between all of the new Cybertronians that showed up so far this season and the changing tides when it came to events that were supposed to happen, then we could lose Wheeljack. That couldn't happen. We needed him in season three and in the movie afterward. Losing him here because of the formula portion that I needed to get from his processor would be horrible.

But, thinking about Wheeljack did remind me of the conversation that I had with said bot this morning. We had been sitting around with a few of the other bots when I had asked Cliff if he had heard anything about Lizzie from the Decepticons. Even though she 'told' me that we were to break ties, seeing the video footage of the other humanoid working with the Decepticons told me that she probably didn't actually mean that, but she couldn't risk further contact with me because she might be overheard.

Anyways, when I had asked Cliffjumper if he had found anything out, I had been surprised when Wheeljack had been the one to answer me. The other solar, back when we had Thundercracker during what was supposed to be 'Partners', Wheeljack said that he had questioned the seeker about my MIA employee. But, he said that Thundercracker, while willing to say things about the Autobots and how they had been acting in the view of the Decepticons, the triplet had been very tight-glossa acting about Lizzie and her current position on the Nemesis.

If I didn't know any better, then a part of me would believe that Lizzie was no longer even alive on the Nemesis. It would explain all of the lack of information coming from them and, since the last time I heard from Lizzie was clear back after Rudolf Island, then that possibility seemed even more real. But, I had to have faith that Lizzie really was fine and this would not interfere with what was going on. Whoever this other organic is seemed to be dangerous if they were sent to deal with MECH troops to free Breakdown and Vox.

"Hey Paul," I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to Miko as she spoke. "shouldn't we get over to Ratchet and see what we can learn from him? That stuff you showed me about right now says that I should be going over there. This isn't Bulk in trouble but I still want to help as much as I can."

I glanced over at the medic and noticed that he was at a point where we could talk to him. "Sounds like a plan Miko. I'm glad that you're here to keep me on track."

"And that's a job in itself." She laughed before pausing. "Am I getting paid for this?"

Shaking my head with a laugh, I stood up and led the two of us over to Ratchet as he worked. "Hey Ratchet, you got a minute?"

The medic looked up from his work and stared between the two of us. "What is it?"

It was Miko who carefully worded what we needed to accommodate the change. "Wheeljack hasn't woke up for a while, and you all looked worried. Is he going to be alright?"

"Miko...we didn't want to frighten either of you." Ratchet started. "But, Wheeljack's processor is slowly being taken over by the information from the cylinder. At this rate, it won't be long before the Wheeljack we know now is gone."

I felt my eyes widen slightly at that, though it was more acting than anything else before I spoke. "And why aren't we just having Miko or me hit Wheeljack's helm to get the data out of him?" I made sure to put an upset tone in my voice, though I hoped that this pushing atmosphere I was creating wouldn't change what had to happen.

Thankfully, from the way Ratchet glanced over us, I had a feeling that things would stay on track. "Rest assured, Optimus has a plan to save both Wheeljack and the formula that is inside of him." While that is what the medic answered, I could hear a strain in his vocals...like this is nothing like what he wanted to happen.

While Miko and Ratchet continued to talk, I turned around to glance at what Ratchet had looked at. To my surprise, I saw that Optimus was walking with Zarron seemingly talking with Optimus. It was strange since, earlier, Zarron seemed to want nothing to do with Optimus and the others. But, here was the two-wheeler having what looked like a full-fledged conversation with the leader...and a civil conversation as well. While I was really curious about what was going on with those two, I knew that I had to return my focus to Miko and Ratchet. The time for luring Wheeljack out was coming soon and we were going to have to do some tricky stuff if we were going to make sure that happened.

Hopefully, things would go as the episode said.

 **Megatron's 1st P.O.V.**

"Shockwave, status report." I ordered the mech in front of me. I had just returned from one of our mines, where production was down, and I needed something to take my processor off of that fact. Shockwave rarely disappointed me and I had a feeling that he would not disappoint me now.

"Of course my Lord." Shockwave responded before motioning to the monitor behind him. "Decryption of the Praxian database is going more smoothly than we could have anticipated. We have recently decrypted another set of coordinates for future retrieval. A place in a highly deserted area as well."

"Very good Shockwave." I praised the scientist. "And how has Miss Val been working with our systems?" I knew that the last time I checked, Lizzie was having slight difficulty with our more complex computer technicalities. This eventually needed to be rectified but, given that it had only been a few solars since I discovered the problem, then I doubted that she had made much progress in our standards.

Shockwave hesitated at my question, no doubt gathering the information that he needed for his report before he spoke. "Miss Val has made decent progress on understanding the more complex aspects of our systems. It has actually been due to her that I can also report that the soliform project is now complete and ready to be tested."

Really? I knew that a few solars ago when I had checked in with Shockwave on his subordinate and on his progress, that he had been having difficulties with the patch of code needed for consumption of more complex human foods. The conversion program from raw energy, like human food would produce for the being who consumed it, to our energy was completed seven solars ago. Now, the program was ready for testing.

However, while I wanted to think more about that, I knew that I needed to give Shockwave praise for completing this feat. "You never cease to amaze me, Shockwave." I also didn't fail to catch that Shockwave gave some of his credit to our human Decepticon. That meant that I needed to find her and give her praise for her work as well. "Shockwave, what is the location of Lizzie at this click?"

"I believe that she is receiving servo to servo combat training from Blitzwing now." Shockwave reported, staying at attention.

If it wasn't for the almost constant stream of pranks that were performed on a bi-solar basis, then I would believe that Lizzie did nothing but train. While that was a good aspect to have, I also knew the benefits of troops relaxing. It restored their mental stability as well as their physical strength. Knowing that she at least had...relaxing...activities to give her rest made me even more appreciative of the human.

"Very well. You may return to your work." I released Shockwave from attention before turning and walking out.

As I moved down the hall toward the training room, though, I found myself curious about our human. I wasn't blind. During Decepticon interactions with the Autobots, I had studied their humans when they were seen. The youngest of them was too young even by human standards to be near our conflict, but I could see intellect in his human optics. This would back-up the fact that the boy, according to Soundwave's report at the time, was the one responsible for keeping Soundwave out of the satellite array system until Soundwave was forced to use physical means to keep the boy off of the systems.

Then, there was the oldest human youngling. He seemed to have Optimus' attention and I could see why. The boy acted just like Optimus did when he was still Orion. He tried toward responsibility that was beyond his years but, when opportunities to act his age presented themselves, the older youngling male could not resist the chance to act like his age. I didn't see him as much as the other humans, but this was what I had observed so far. Our interaction during the cave-in during my test of Airachnid and Astrotrain showed me much of this observation.

Thirdly, there was the only human femme of the group. She seemed eager to help the Autobots, much in comparison like Lizzie worked to help us Decepticons. However, unlike our situation with Lizzie, the Autobots did not encourage this drive in the human femme and so she acted out against the Autobots. This was seen many times when the human femme came along to the battles. Of course, the young human did have help.

And that help came from the fourth human that needed observation. The human entrepreneur who was the oldest human on the Autobot side. I could see knowledge in his human optics and I knew that I had to be careful around him. If the Autobots brought the human in closer, as we had with Lizzie, then he could cause our fight to go toward the favor of the Autobots. While I wasn't completely sold on the idea, Knockout swore that the human male had purposefully hit the cylinder this solar, with the sole purpose of activating it. I was going to have to watch that human much closer.

My thoughts went to the back of my processor as I arrived in the viewing area. The only other being in the room with me was Soundwave and, besides a glance and nod in my direction, Soundwave did not even speak in his own way. Instead, he returned his attention to viewing the ground floor. The training down below must be very interesting to watch.

So, I moved to the viewing glass and I felt my optic ridge raise slightly in surprise. It seemed as if Blitzwing was training Lizzie in being outnumbered in a fight. To her left was Icy, and he was moving to Lizzie's blind spot as Hothead came at her directly. Random was not in the fight and seemed to be acting as a sort of referee to this training. Lizzie seemed calmed and collected, moving to make sure that Icy was not out of her sight while keeping Hothead at bay.

My optics followed the fight as Icy suddenly lunged at Lizzie, getting into what seemed to be her blind spot. I waited for the strike to hit the human but it never came. At the last possible moment, Lizzie turned and grabbed hold of Icy before guiding him to crash into Hothead. While they were entangled, Lizzie ran up to them and reached behind their backs before pulling off a small disk that was attached to their soliform necks. Once they were in her hand, she backed off of them and held the disks up to them.

Watching the human fight caused my own systems to want to get in the fight. Since the human seemed to still be battle-ready, I turned to Soundwave. "You are to remain in here and make sure that none touch my chassis. I shall return." I then focused on transforming while also sending a message to Blitzwing to report to the viewing room. I wanted to fight Miss Val alone and with all the space that I could afford.

Once Blitzwing responded that he was on his way, I wasted no time in activating my own soliform program and materializing on the fighting floor. As I came into being, I noticed that Lizzie was tense, most likely due to not having seen my own soliform before. But, after a few nanos of studying between the two of us, I saw Lizzie's body relax slightly before she bowed her head toward me. "Lord Megatron."

Since I knew that this form would need a human name, I picked one from the few that I had already looked into before addressing her. "In this form, I am to be called Mark Truman."

She took the change in stride. "Of course Mr. Truman." It didn't fail my notice that the girl also put in a form of honorific to my name instead of just addressing me by my soliform's first name. "Is there some way that I can be of service to you sir?" She seemed tense about my sudden arrival on the fighting floor.

So, to start things off, I nodded once. "Yes, but we shall get to that in a click. First, I wish to congratulate you for your work on the soliform project with Shockwave. I have been told that it is ready for testing. Plus, I have also been told that another set of coordinates have been decoded from the Praxian database. I felt that I should come and thank you personally for your work."

Lizzie look startled at my response to her and, for a few nanos, she stared at me blankly. She was probably trying to organize everything I said. Finally, though, she had a red flush color appear in her cheeks before she smiled. "I'm not deserving of such praise my Lord. I only wish to work for the progress of the Decepticon cause."

"Nevertheless, the praise is yours." I rebutted her modesty. Now, for the reason that I came to her in this form. "However, I was watching you train from above and I believe that this would be a good chance to train with this soliform. The movement available in this form is much more fluid than I am used to. Some training would seem proper."

Our human seemed to realize what I was hinting at and got into a battle stance, that seemed to be a fusion of Blitzwing's, Breakdown's, and Shockwave's before nodding. "Mr. Truman, I would be honored to be your sparring partner right now."

"Perfect." I responded, falling into my own stance before I glanced up at the viewing area and nodded.

It seemed like Soundwave understood what I was conveying to him because the lights dimmed slightly and a timer could be heard beeping slightly and at a slow pace. Once the sound became a solid siren, then that was the signal to launch. Looking at the human as I waited, I noticed that she was slightly tensed in her legs and shoulders. That would not help her in evading my first blow.

When the siren came, I went to launch at her when, to my surprise, she had covered half of the distance between us already. Immediately, I fell into a defensive stance and got my arms up as she struck out at me with a punch. "This won't be easy." She commented to me as she dodged my retaliation strike. Well, my first one.

The second one came from my knee and slammed into her midsection, throwing her back from me. "I could say the same to you, Lizzie." I told her as I went to close the distance. Pushing the advantage while I still could. I expected her to sweep my feet when I grew close enough, as instinct would drive most to do, but I was surprised when, instead, she rolled to the left of me and used the momentum she built to stand up and send an upward palm thrust to my soliform's nose. Immediately, my soliform's vision went blurry and, as I blocked her next strike while my vision cleared, I realized that right now Lizzie was a dangerous opponent. While I had millions of stellars of combat training over her, Lizzie was born into the form we were fighting with and she knew the small places that would cause secondary effects, like my blurred vision from the strike to my nose.

My fist connected with Lizzie again, causing her to back off as my vision cleared up. Good. I was in a position to take advantage of her retreat so I charged forward again and ended up having her restrained from behind. "Not yet my Lord." Lizzie seemed to answer my unspoken question of her tapping out.

I was confused by this until she suddenly slammed her foot into the inside of my own. The pain received was unexpected and I instinctively released her. She quickly moved away and, given that I had paused after her last strike like this, I knew that she would probably plan for that. So, instead of charging her, I waited for her to strike.

And the strike came quickly from her as she lunged at me and I felt my instincts kick in. When she was in range I grabbed her shoulder and started to throw her clear of me. However, in my instinctual reaction, I failed to notice that her leg had become entangled in my own. As she started to fall, she removed mine from beneath me and I began to fall. This was not good. My thoughts raced inside of me and I knew that, if Lizzie was to recuperate first, then I might get pushed into a corner. I would not be pushed into a corner by her. So, as I continued to fall, I reached for her and grabbed hold of her waist.

From her surprised look, she was not expecting that so, when we landed, she ended up beneath me, our faces inches apart, and our breathing staggered. Her eyes were wide and alert, locked on my own in surprise.

* * *

 **Lizzie: *panicking* Holy fragging son of the Pit I am going to offline!**

 **Authoress: *confused* Why do you say that?**

 **Lizzie: *glares* You don't update us for so long and the first thing you do is have me spar with Lord Megatron's soliform!?**

 **Authoress: *smirks* Yep! And just wait until you see what I have planned for the next chapter! *walks off***

 **Lizzie: *pauses* What do you...? *turns to see Authoress gone* *yells* You get back here right now you sneaky little glitch!**

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next exciting chapter of the story. I know I didn't round out the Autobot side of things but my main focus with them, for the time being, is to show conflict so story points might not flesh out in the chapter that they first appear in. I will tell you all that Wheeljack is just fine. He gets his memory recovered as Bulkhead did in the original. Plus, the synth-en formula is lost to the stars...or is it? *sneaky smirk***

 **Next chapter is going to take place during the whole synthetic energon bit. Should be a lot of fun on both sides. We will be working with the Autobots first and then we get to have some fun with the Decepticons and the soliform project! Hope to see you all there.**

 **Alright, and now for the next couple of chapters of this story!**

 **Chapter 22: How to Deal with Pressure**

 **Chapter 23: Spark Fall**

 **Chapter 24:...(getting closer to that season finale! So excited!)**

 **So, that's all for now! Please leave a review so I know you all are still out there! I know I vanished for a little on this story but I swear I have the rest of this season and the beginning of the next season mapped out pretty intricately for me if I do say so myself! Well, until the next time, TTYL! *feels like she needs a drink***


	23. How to Deal with Pressure

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Lizzie: Okay, so has anybot seen the cookies?**

 **Frenzy: *confused* Why do you need cookies?**

 **Lizzie: *frowns* Because I made them and I was planning on sharing them tonight.**

 **Rumble: *notices crumbs on floor* Then it is up to the Detective Twins to find out who took them!**

* * *

Chapter 22: How to Deal with Pressure

 **Zarron's 1st P.O.V.**

"Glad I got your message Zarron. We've all been worried about you. I should be able to get to Earth in about twenty-one solars if I can catch a ride their this solar. The others send their best wishes and I'll see you soon.~Balm"

I felt relief as that message came through from Balm. For the past cycle, I had been sitting high on this desert plateau waiting for a response to the message I had sent to Balm the previous solar. Something I had noticed, during the mess with that formula and Wheeljack is that Ratchet is our only medic. One medic for six was pushing it before the rest of us showed up. But, one medic for sixteen bots, that was going to turn into a bad situation real quick. So, I had gotten Optimus alone and asked for permission to call for a medic I knew, Balm, to come to give support. Optimus agreed, thankfully, and so I had sent out a call for help. Balm was immediate with her response and, with her answer now confirmed, I could head back to base and let Optimus know.

But, as I stood, I felt worried. While Tana was the one out of my friends that had issues with the most bots here on Earth, and the one that had the biggest issues, Balm wasn't completely out of the park on the issues field. That was especially when it came to Pitch. The medic and the truck mech had clashed a couple of times and I knew that there were things about those confrontations that I didn't know about...especially their last confrontation. But, I knew Balm was a capable femme who, when she needed to, could speak up when needed.

That was a risk that I was taking, asking Balm to come and help, but it was a risk that I was going to have to take. We needed another medic here and, honestly, having another bot that I fully trusted, like Wheeljack, here to help back the two of us up would be great. Having three voices speaking up against something was more powerful than one and I knew Balm. If she had been here during that mess the other solar with Wheeljack, then there would have been no discussion and she would have barred the med bay from everybot else until she fixed him. No questions asked.

Taking my mind out of that subject before I got angry again, I activated my commlink and connected it to the base. "Hey, I don't know who's there right now, but I could use a pickup."

Not so surprisingly, Ratchet was the one who answered. _"Ground bridge is on its way."_

Almost immediately after he said that the bridge opened next to me. "Thanks." Was my quick response before I disconnected the line and walked through the bridge.

As I walked through the bridge, though, my thoughts returned to Balm and, more importantly, to the solar I left for this job.

Flashback

" _Are you sure you have everything?" Balm asked me for the hundredth time as I loaded my small transport ship. Well, it actually belonged to the Guardians but Tana made it so I could use the ship during this._

 _Nodding back to Balm, I pointed to each item. "Extra fuel for the ship, extra fuel for me, snacks, ammunition, the blade repair kit Tana got for me, my emergency med kit from you, and a signal beacon so you all can bail me out of trouble if I get into any before I get to Cybertron." Well, I thought I got everything. But, from the look that Balm was shooting me right now, I had a feeling that I had forgotten something important._

 _After Balm and I held optic contact for a few clicks, she let out a vent before she walked up to me. "You forgot something, you idiot." She was smiling as she said that like it was something simple that I was forgetting._

 _But, it wasn't so simple for me. I was panicking trying to figure out what I could possibly be forgetting. I had gone over my list a hundred times and I couldn't fathom what I might have forgotten. Seriously! But, Balm wasn't one to just say that I forgot something and not really mean it. That was especially with the mission that I was going to be going on. After a click and not being able to think of what I forgot, I looked pleadingly to Balm. "What did I forget?"_

 _To my surprise, she let out a laugh. "Well, two things actually." Before I could even try to ask what those were, she suddenly had me in a hug. "You forgot to promise to stay safe and you forgot to promise to come back online and in one piece."_

 _I felt the tension leave my shoulders as I hugged her back. How could I forget? It was something that Balm made each of us do before we left for a mission. She rarely left the base here and she always worried for the rest of us. So, I immediately went about correcting my mistake. "I'm sorry Balm. I promise that I'll stay safe and that I'll return online and in one piece." We then separated and I looked at her. "I promise Balm."_

End of Flashback.

As I exited the ground bridge and took note of who was in the base, I heard those words of my promise echoing in my mind. That was going to be a hard promise to keep with the likes of Sentinel, Pitch, and Flamewar about. I knew that they were dangerous for Autobots and that I had to be careful around them. But, they were also Autobots, and thus I had to fight alongside them when ordered to. It was a very delicate situation that might put me in danger at times. Sentinel, who I had seen to cause those thoughts, locked optics with me and we held a stare for a few clicks before he shook his helm and transformed. It must be his turn for patrol.

"Hey Ratchet," I turned my attention from where Sentinel had just been and watched as Raf walked over to where the medic was working on something. "is that synthetic energon?"

Ratchet, who looked surprised that Raf was taking interest in whatever he was doing, nodded. "Well, yes. In fact, I'm preparing to test the sample." He then studied Raf a little closer. "I see you've come equipped with protective goggles." Eh, close enough Ratchet. Glasses weren't the best protection, from what I had found out from studying, but they were better than nothing.

Since I was curious about what the medic was doing with his iteration of the portion of formula we were able to keep from the whole fiasco with Wheeljack, I moved closer. My closest ally here, Wheeljack had almost lost his processor to get what we had and I wanted to know how progress in studying what we had was coming.

Tension almost froze my chassis as Ratchet inserted the green substance into the motor. For a few nanos, there was silence. Then, there was a slight hum from the motor and, with the lights signaling power on said motor, I realized that it was working. "It works!" Raf exclaimed excitedly. I guess he understood the issue that we were having with energon and that being able to produce a synthetic version would be helpful in the war effort.

But, as excited as Raf was, I figured that I had better tone him down a little. "Not exactly. While this form of synthetic energon can be used in machines like this, it still seems unstable for Autobot consumption."

Ratchet gave me a studying look at that before he spoke to Raf. "Zarron is right. We have to test this further before we can think about using it for ammunition or first aid as well." He then let out a vent. "Which is rather unfortunate, since our own energon reserves are at an all-time low."

I flinched as Ratchet added that last part. I knew that, due to our increased numbers, that energon for us had become a very strained resource for us to use. We were barely getting by as it was from the few mines that we had. That wasn't what caused me to flinch though. I knew that, given the circumstances of my mission, that I had been using a large amount of energon due to my continuous ground bridge trips to retrieve my messages and send them for this mission. If I didn't need to keep in contact with my client for this mission, then the Autobots would not be quite as strained for energon as they were now.

"We're so outnumbered right now," I jumped slightly as Ironhide walked in. I hadn't realized he was so close but I was sure I was able to hide the jump I just did. "And we have been rapidly burning through our stockpile lately while the Decepticons continue to put pressure on us."

Ratchet seemed to agree with Ironhide's interjection. "Natural energon is in such short supply on your planet, and Megatron seems to have his oily claws buried deep in the most rewarding of the Earth's deposits." He then motioned to the test motor. "But, if we can successfully produce a synthetic form, we can manufacture all the energy we'll ever need."

I was glad when I didn't jump when the alarm suddenly started to sound. That wasn't a proximity alarm so, with current situations like they were between us Autobots and the Decepticons, then I had a feeling that this would have something to do with them. As the three of us moved to the monitors, Raf walking on the catwalk by us since Jack, Miko, and Paul were off exploring something here in the base, the other Autobots currently in the base started to gather.

Arcee, Blaster, Eject, Rewind, and Springer were off on patrol in different parts while Pitch, Cliffjumper, and Chromia were off checking on the few mines that we worked on when we had the chance. So, that left Flamewar, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Optimus, Wheeljack, and the three of us. While Flamewar made me nervous, I did have the backup so I didn't feel nearly the nerves I needed to.

"More energon on the move. Great." Flamewar was not happy to have to go and chase more energon.

"Again?" Bulkhead asked as we studied the monitors in front of us. For the past week, it seemed like the Decepticons were moving small quantities of energon at a time. This would not be the first time that this had occurred.

Optimus seemed to realize what we all seemed to. "Their recent activity suggests a familiar pattern. The Decepticons are desperately scouting for new deposits to mine." A part of me wanted to agree with the leader. We were not the only side whose numbers were increasing and they would need more energon. However, as Ratchet had said earlier, Megatron had his claws in some of Earth's most profitable mines. He might be looking for new mines, but he wasn't desperate for them. "Autobots!"

"Optimus…" We all turned to Ratchet as he spoke to the Prime. "If one of you comes back wounded this time...well, our energon reserves are nearly depleted." I flinched as my own uses of the bridge hit my mind. I was largely at fault for the fast depletion of our stores. I needed to find a way to make it right.

"Understood." Optimus responded to Ratchet's worry. "Activate the ground bridge." Ratchet nodded and did just that. Once the vortex was opened, Optimus turned to us all. "Ratchet, you will accompany us." While Ratchet was surprised, I was even more surprised when Prime turned to me. "Zarron, you will remain here as backup. We need Ratchet on the field to deal with emergencies immediately so we can keep our energon stockpiles stable."

While I wanted to argue with the Prime, since I would be more useful in the field than here at the base, I held my glossa. I knew that I was guilty of using much of the energon from the stockpiles for my mission and, while he didn't know why I used the energon, I knew that Optimus knew that my trips out of base used a bit of our energon. "Understood." I got out with a nod.

Optimus nodded before turning to the others. "Autobots, roll out!" I then watched as the other bots transformed and made their way out of the base. Once they were through, I shut the groundbridge down.

For a few clicks, I just stood there and stared at the powered-down bridge. While I was sent here to clean house for the Autobots, I knew that I had to find a way to make the problem I helped make correct. But, the problem was how. I was stuck here at base for the time being, and that meant that I couldn't help look for more mines. This was not a good thing...not at all. Maybe when the others returned I could, "Hey Zarron?" I turned to Raf and stared at him for a nano before he continued. "Do you know where Jack and the others went? I want to let them know what's going on."

Humans did like to keep others of their species informed. That was something that I noticed during my research of the species. To his question though, I searched my memory banks for the conversation I had overheard from the other humans before I went to receive my message. "They were going to look at the storage rooms in the west wing of the base. You should be able to find them there."

Raf smiled at that. "Thanks, Zarron." He then packed up his laptop and packed it in his bag before moving toward that hallway.

Once the human disappeared, though, my processor flashed to what I had been observing with the human earlier. My optics flashed to look over at the vial of synthetic energon that Ratchet had set aside for testing. While I knew what I said earlier was true, I knew that time was not something we had in great quantity. I moved over to the table and took the syringe of synthetic energon in my servo. There would be great risk in doing this, but we needed this synthetic energon badly enough for Ratchet to be brought into the field and for me to be left behind.

Before I could talk myself out of doing this, I put the syringe against my elbow-joint and injected the synthetic energon into my systems. A heavy burden immediately hit my systems and my vision started to go dark. Slag, what did I…

The world around me started to sway as my vision went dark. The sound of shattering glass was the last thing I heard before consciousness left me.

 **Wheeljack's 1st P.O.V.**

That mission couldn't have gone much better even if I wanted it to. We were able to intercept the drones that were carrying the energon and, while they got half of it, we were able to secure the other half for ourselves. That would at least help sustain our energon stockpiles while we continued to look for more mines for ourselves. While we weren't injured during this, Flamewar didn't hold back in her assault on some of those drones. She was covered in energon and none of it was from her.

As I walked through the bridge, my thoughts moved to Zarron. I knew that he was feeling guilty about his use of energon. His mission to find out who in the Autobot faction here was going dark had meant that he needed transport away from base, and a large distance away from base, a lot. Once we got through the bridge and we were settled, I was going to pull Zarron aside and talk with him. Maybe, if he was agreeable enough, I would even offer to go on patrol for energon with him. That would probably make the two-wheeler feel better.

But, as I was the last one to exit the bridge, I felt my battle reflexes come to a front. What the frag? This was the base. I doubted that the Decepticons got in but I couldn't get this feeling to go away. Letting my optics scan the room, I finally found the humans, who all looked tense and nervous in their area. "What's going on?" I asked them as I moved toward them, battle senses still on high alert.

Paul, who seemed to be the human most able to answer, answered me. "It's Zarron." My spark grew cold at that tense tone in Paul's voice. "I don't know what was going through his head, but he injected himself with some of that synth-en when we walked in here before he collapsed. We tried to get to him to see if he was alright but before we got close he woke...but he was different."

"How?" Ratchet asked immediately. He would need to know how Zarron first reacted to the synth-en.

Instead of Paul answering, however, Miko did. "His optics were green. A seriously wicked green! He took one look at us and bolted like he didn't know what we were!"

"Don't you mean 'who' you were, Miko?" Springer asked.

"No, she meant 'what'," Paul took back over. "The look in his optics showed that he had never seen a human before."

"Could the synth-en be blocking his present memories?" Ratchet seemed to ask himself.

While the others started to wonder other things that could be wrong, I slowly took out my swords. While Ratchet seemed to be right about how this scrap was affecting Zarron, it wouldn't explain how Zarron reacted to the humans. When Zarron first saw the humans, he had been curious about them. Not wanting to get away from them. While I agreed with what Ratchet said, I had a feeling that it was more serious than that.

Something moving at the top of my vision caused me to raise my sword. As blades clashed against my own, my optics locked onto Zarron's now-green ones. For a brief nano, I saw a look that I saw on the battlefield a lot. A bot backed into a corner with no way out. Wherever the synth-en took his processor, he saw all of us as a threat.

That nano didn't last long and, once he withdrew from me, the base erupted into chaos. Flamewar didn't hesitate to open-fire at Zarron. As he dodged, Optimus spoke up. "Hold your fire! We must get him out of the base."

Ratchet moved to the bridge controls so I figured I could lure Zarron into it. With Bumblebee and Bulk blocking the other exits, I charged. The two-wheeler dodged me, jumping over my helm before he darted into the open bridge. Like I thought, whenever his processor placed him, he was scared.

But, as the rest of us followed the way-word bot and tried to restrain him, I realized that he wasn't the only one feeling fear. This two-wheeler, who I counted as a friend, was avoiding a force of seven Autobots that included the Prime and a number of well-accomplished warriors. One mech. And, his processor was not obviously how it normally would be. If he could do all of this when not thinking, then what would he be able to accomplish if he was in his right processor?

After a few turns, I had the rogue Zarron cornered in a canyon. From how the mech was observing the walls around him, I had a feeling that he was looking for a chance to escape. "Won't do you any good Zarron." I spoke to him. His helm snapped to focus on me so I continued. "We just want to help you. You've been affected by an unstable energon and we want to help get it out of you."

A growl came from the now still mech. "Take your lying slag to the Pit. I don't care what sort of processor manipulation you've done to me, I do know one thing; don't trust anybot. When you do, you end up _offline_." I could see that he was still tensed. I'm not sure what he thought of, but he suddenly glared at me suspiciously. "How do you know my designation?" I could see the tension in his chassis as he asked that.

I had to be careful...but I also knew that Zarron would appreciate an honest answer no matter how crazy it was going to sound to this part of his processor. "You told me. Believe it or not, the two of us are friends. You trust me, and I trust you." Seeing the mistrust show in Zarron's optics, I took a gamble. Taking both of my swords in my servos, I turned them to face the ground before slamming them down.

The green optics grew wide as I did that. "You...why would you get rid of your weapons? Only a fool disarms himself in front of another bot."

Making sure to keep optic contact while moving carefully, I motioned to the mech. "If trusting a friend makes me a fool, then I guess I am one."

Now Zarron's optics were showing shock and he actually took a step back. "You...you would…" This was working! Well, that was what I thought before he seemed to tense and look at me with those wide optics. "Move!"

An explosion hit my audios and I barely looked up in time to see the boulders starting to come down at me. I pulled my swords from the ground, to try and block some of the stones, but before they reached me, I felt a force slam into me and I was thrown back. My chassis rolled across the ground for a few nanos but, once I stopped, I stood and felt my optics widen as I saw the landslide that happened.

"That was larger than I expected."

My optics narrowed as I heard Sentinel's vocals and I saw that he was coming up behind me, the rest of the bots that were involved in this recovery behind him. "You son of a glitch," I said before I ran up to him and grabbed him and threw him against the canyon wall. "Zarron and I were under there. You could have offlined us!"

"Wheeljack stand down."

My optics flashed to Optimus when he ordered that. I was not going to stand down! This insane mech had almost killed me and...My optics widened as thoughts of Zarron hit me and I turned to run to the landslide. "Frag it Zarron where are you?" I muttered as I started to move the boulders. The other Autobots pitched in to help and, soon, I moved a rather large boulder that revealed the injured Autobot. His side was severely injured and was leaking the synth-en that started this mess.

However, what was surprising to me was that Zarron was awake and he seemed to have a soft look in his once again blue optics. "I'm so...so sorry." I went to tell him that it was alright when he continued to speak. "You told me not to get hurt...and I couldn't keep that promise. You warned me to be careful, to not take any chances...and I just couldn't keep myself out of trouble. Sorry femme."

He was still delirious. While he was calmer, which probably meant his processor was closer to the present than it was before, he was still lost somewhere in his past. The sound of pede-steps coming closer, though, told me what I had to do. Taking the hilt of one of my swords, I slammed it against the mech's helm.

"What the frag was that for you idiot?" Flamewar demanded as the others stopped around us. As I bent down and picked up the two-wheeler, she continued to open that fragging mouth of hers. "The fragging bot was finally letting us know something about himself and you knocked him out."

"Ratchet, bridge. Med-bay will need to be ready." I called into Ratchet before I glared at the femme. I wanted to put her in her place with my fists but I had to take care of Zarron first. "We all have a right to our privacy." I then glared at everybot. "Unless you are going to start airing all of your dark little secrets, then leave Zarron alone." The bridge then opened next to me and I walked through.

It took the doc about five cycles to get Zarron patched up and re-energized. It wouldn't be long before the bot started to come back on his own. After how Flamewar acted when I stopped Zarron from talking...and how Sentinel decided to stop him for that matter, I wasn't going to be leaving his side until he woke up. It was funny. It seemed that, lately, the two of us were getting into a lot of trouble.

A groan coming from next to me caused me to focus on the two-wheeler as his optics flickered online and he sat up before looking around. Once his optics landed on me, he paused. "Wheeljack...what happened?"

I raised an optic ridge at that. "You mean you don't remember?"

He shook his helm in return. "No. The last thing I remember was...the synth-en." He seemed to whisper that last part...almost like he knew when he took it that something bad was going to happen.

So, I delved into everything that he had done since he injected himself. He had looked panicked when I told him that he was babbling in his delirious mind when he was injured, so I told him what he got out before I knocked him out. "You've been out about five cycles now," I said.

He nodded, though I saw that his optics were soft. "Wheeljack...thank you. I...just wanted to help. I'm sorry."

Shrugging my shoulders at that, I motioned to the main room. "We know and it's alright. Plus, if it makes you feel any better, we did find a stockpile of energon in that canyon we trapped you in." I then shook my helm. "Trust me though, you weren't the easiest bot to talk down."

The two-wheeler flinched at that. "Sorry."

"Stop saying sorry. I already told you that it was alright," I said. He was not going to keep apologizing like this.

Zarron frowned at my rebuke of his apology. "No, I owe you something. If it wasn't for me, then you wouldn't be in this mess." Before I could say anything against that, he snapped his digits. "I know. I'll explain to you why I probably acted the way I did in the canyon."

While he really didn't have to make up anything for the canyon, I was curious about why he was so mistrusting of me in the canyon. "You don't have anything to make up, but if you want to tell me about this then shoot."

He let out a vent before he started. "I was raised in Tarn. It was a tough city and, if you trusted other bots, you ended up offline if you were lucky. When I was younger, before the start of the war, I was the pinnacle of that belief. I never trusted anybot and, if anybot knew anything about me, then I knew that I was in deep scrap and I had to get out of there. I'm surprised that the me from the canyon didn't bolt as soon as you said my designation."

I gave the mech a light hit in the shoulder at that. "The two of us are friends you crazy mech. Your actual processor probably edged in enough to keep you there."

Zarron nodded. "Right. That's probably the only explanation that makes sense." He then looked serious. "Since we have a few clicks, let me give you an update about what I was doing out this morning."

 **Lizzie's 1st P.O.V.**

I stretched my arms as I walked through one of the vents with Rumble and Frenzy. I had the solar off from everything since I had been making a lot of progress on the Praxian database. We had a stockpile of coordinates that we had saved up and Lord Megatron ordered that after my rest this solar, I was to also add the decryption of the Iacon database to my repertoire.

It kind of brought the idea that season two was coming soon to the front of my thoughts. That had me worried about what was going to happen now with all of the changes that had happened. Season two was a highly intense portion of time in the show where a lot of things happened. Optimus losing his memories, the hunt for the Iaconian relics, the omega key hunt, the fight for the omega lock, and the destruction of the Autobot base. I was hoping to help prevent a number of things from happening. They didn't need to suffer like that. But, I had to make sure I played my cards right.

"Cybertron to Lizzie." I jumped at Rumble's voice.

"What is it?" I asked him.

He shook his helm. "We asked you why you weren't training this solar. You've had sessions every solar lately."

Honestly, I would be in the training room if I could. "Orders. My checkup with Knockout the other solar told them that my body was too strained for working out this solar. I have been ordered to take a rest with little physical exertion." I then sighed. "It sucks."

I frowned as I heard a snicker from my right. "Need a break from getting your aft handed to you?" Frenzy teased me. Of course, that caused me to strike out to my left. "Frag it femme watch it!"

"I don't always get my aft handed to me," I growled at him. Though I wouldn't admit it out loud, I had been on the floor more than I wanted. But, if what Knockout said was correct, it was because my body was protesting the stress I was putting on it. The training session I was going to be in tomorrow would have a different outcome.

They must have decided to drop that topic as Rumble motioned in the direction that we were going. "Hey Lizzie, what are you planning on doing this solar?"

"I'm going to hang out on the bridge just in case I'm needed," I answered.

I would have gone further into an explanation when, suddenly, I had a message from Soundwave flash across my helmet's visor. " _Orders from Lord Megatron. You, Rumble, and Frenzy report to bridge.-Soundwave."_

Well, good thing we were heading in that direction anyways. "Change in plans mechs. We have orders from Lord Megatron to report to the bridge."

The three of us picked up our pace and, soon, we were coming out of the vent on the bridge. Not to my surprise, Soundwave was standing there with his servo below the opening. Not wasting time, the three of us jumped down so Soundwave could bring us to where Lord Megatron, Starscream, Shockwave, Vox, Thundercracker, and Knockout were standing. What the frag was going on? "Ah, thank you for joining us Lizzie, Rumble, and Frenzy." Lord Megatron greeted the three of us.

"Lord Megatron." I greeted my leader with a bow while Rumble and Frenzy gave similar greetings.

Not one to waste time, Lord Megatron motioned to Shockwave, who went right to business. "With the completion of the soliform program, it seems only logical that a test is made using it. So, Vox, Thundercracker, Rumble, and Frenzy will travel planetside in their soliforms, using Vox as transportation, to test these soliforms. However, this test is about more than just the functionality of the soliforms. To use the soliforms to their greatest functionality, the soldier using them must be able to interact with the humans without them suspecting that anything is amiss." He then focused his gaze on me. "That is where you come in Lizzie."

At that, Lord Megatron took over. "Since you are the most fit of my troops to judge how a human should act in their natural setting, you will go along as a judge. Observe each soliform as you can and make notes on what could be improved upon. Knockout has informed me of your need for rest this solar, however, this mission should not put a strain on your recovery."

While it didn't sound like my job was too stressful, I knew otherwise. My notes would help guide the soliforms in the future about how to interact with humans so we could blend in among them and, even, use the human population against the Autobots if needed. I wasn't an idiot. I knew that the soliform program I helped with had plenty of applications for the war effort, applications that I doubted the Autobots, in their stance in avoiding involvement of the human population, would use. It could be a critical advantage to us once we sophisticated the actions of the program.

"Yes, my Lord," I responded to my leader in the positive. Honestly, while this job would be stressful, with the responsibility that I had toward its success, I was also kinda excited. Hanging out with John, Terrance, Ryan, and Finian. I mean, sure, seeing them here at the base was a lot of fun, but to be on my home turf...in a manner of speaking, was going to make everything so much more exciting!

Once Lord Megatron exited the bridge, and Soundwave placed the three of us on a console, the other two bots in on this mission walked over to us. "So Lizzie," Thundercracker started. "Vox and I were talking about where we would like to go as a test before the three of you arrived and we figured that going to one of your clubs would be beneficial. We had those on Cybertron, before the war, and both Vox and I went to a few in our time. It would be a good place, in our opinion, to start."

Honestly, when he suggested that, I felt my stomach fall. To humans, I was technically underage, though I could pull off twenty-one when needed. I had actually never been to a club, though I had heard about them from some of my college friends. A lot of music, dancing, and drinking. Not my favorite scene but, for this mission, they were right. Starting with a place that they could compare to Cybertron instead of, oh, let's say Disneyworld, would be better for gauging their adaptiveness to humans. If we went somewhere like Disney, then they would have to try and get used to the location as well as interacting with humans. That could put a lot of stress on the soliforms that they didn't need.

So, with a sigh, I nodded. "Fine. Soundwave," The TIC turned to me when I spoke to him. "Can you make me an ID that shows I'm twenty-one?" I knew that the soliform program would provide the ID with the correct age for the bots when they entered into them, as long as they put in the correct age of their soliform name. Since I was actual flesh and bones, I needed a fake ID made for me.

Soundwave nodded and turned to a console before typing. While he was, Vox spoke. "So, I'm guessing we all need to be at least twenty-one for this?"

"Yeah. The minimum drinking age in America." And that's where we were going. I knew that I would be in a better environment in America then I would in, let's say, France.

After that, it didn't take the others long to find somewhere on the ship to store their chassis', except for Vox, and for the rest of us to climb in his alt mode. Thankfully, he was roomier in his alt mode than the model he used for his alt. Otherwise, this would have been a very tight fit. We were bridged to the outskirts of LA and, after a parking search that was an adventure in itself, we made our way into Club Obsidian. Just like I thought, there were a lot of people in the club. I was just surprised that we were able to get in so quickly. My college friends from back home would always tell me about how they usually had to wait in line for at least twenty minutes if they were lucky. But, once we had started to walk up to the line, we were expedited to the front.

Well, at least we would be able to start this experiment right away. The dance floor was large, and on the far side away from the door, I saw a lounge area that was slightly elevated from the dance floor. On the same side, but closer to the door, was the bar. Sitting in the lounge would give me a great view of the dance floor and the bar to keep an eye on the soliforms.

"Okay mechs," I started. "I'll be sitting over there if you need me. Have fun, meet some people, and make sure to drink. We are testing how these soliforms can stand up to human expectations. Let's not disappoint." And that was all it took before the mechs made their way to the dancefloor. As I moved toward the lounge, and the seat that I wanted, I noticed that all of them already had dance partners. Perfect.

Once I sat, I studied each soliform. Vox was, not surprisingly, having the easiest time with the people around him. Being an intelligence agent, he would have done research on how to interact with people. There were a couple minor mistakes being made but they were mistakes that a regular human would make. The twins just seemed to be having a blast and, while they definitely had more mistakes than Vox, they were having a blast and that, in the eyes of a human, would balance out the mistakes that they were making.

And Thundercracker was in the middle of the three. While he definitely was interacting well, he wasn't being quite as carefree and fluid as the twins. Made him actually stand out a little more when the mistakes he made happened, and I made notes on everything that they all did. While I still wasn't a fan of coming here, I knew that this was almost the perfect place that we could have come to. An atmosphere that they were somewhat familiar with, so they wouldn't stand out, but just enough difference with human interaction that they had to make sure to pick up human quirks if they didn't want to be found out.

An hour passed, with each of the soliforms moving from the bar, to the dancefloor, and back, and outside of one incident that the twins almost caused with a group of women, then everything was going smoothly. Frag, even with the incident, I didn't have to get involved. Vox was able to get to them and helped soothe things out before the twins were thrown out. I hadn't even had to leave my seat.

"Would you like anything to drink?" I looked to my right at the waiter who asked that, a pad of paper and pencil in his hands.

Well, I was thirsty and, while I was avoiding having any alcohol, since I was supposed to be observing the others, I figured that water wouldn't hurt. "Just water with lime would be nice. Ice please." I told him as I handed him the two dollars that the water would cost.

He took it and, after writing the order down, he smiled. "Of course, I'll be back quickly with your order. Please continue to enjoy your night."

As the man walked toward the bar, I smiled. Nice service around here. Maybe coming to the club wasn't as bad as I thought it would be? If tonight continued to go this well, I would come back here with the twins and we could just have some fun. The soliforms were having fun and it was pretty relaxing sitting here. The bots were so into mixing with the humans that I doubted they even remembered that I was observing their interactions.

"You're water.". I turned and saw that this man was not the waiter who originally took my order. But, they were probably busy. Also, his eyes seemed to be slightly red, but that was probably just due to a long shift. Not thinking much on it, I took the water from the man, the lime just under the ice, and smiled. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." The man spoke before he walked off. He seemed to be in a rush. Oh well. Probably just needed to help more.

Letting out a sigh, relaxing further into the chair I was sitting in, I put the glass to my lips and took a medium-sized swallow of the liquid. Immediately, though, I let out a cough and set the water down. There was a sharp bitter taste that was not from the lime. They must have gotten some alcohol in my water. Maybe we wouldn't come back here, but another club wouldn't be...they wouldn't…

I felt panicked as I started to get dizzy. Something was wrong. I reached my hand up to grab the glass, to check the contents closer, but I felt even more panic when I realized that my hand wouldn't move how I wanted. I knew I wanted to grab the glass, but my hand kept missing the glass. This wasn't right! I could see the glass clearly in front of me...or maybe not. Why was it moving?

It took my foggy mind a few moments to realize that something had happened to me that I had only heard stories about. I had been drugged! This wasn't good. Once the drug took full effect, I would be helpless to whoever did this. While I tried to get my heart rate up, which thanks to the chip in me would alert Soundwave who could get the twins over to help me, it wouldn't go up. Shit! This was crap!

In this fog, I realized that I was more worried about what Lord Megatron would do if I got taken like this, on a mission that was supposed to be easy, than what the people who did this would do.

...Kinda sad.

"Hang on," I heard a voice seem to echo around me. Forcing my eyes to look in front of me, I saw a man that I had never seen before. Who was he? With my blurry vision, I could see that he had blonde hair in a long ponytail and maybe...maybe purple eyes? Everything seemed to be moving though, so I wasn't sure. Who was he? I couldn't fight against him, though, as he pulled me out of my seat and closer to him.

"Wh...wha…" I tried to force myself to speak. But, these drugs were doing all sorts of havoc to my speech.

"You've been drugged," He whispered to me. "I'm going to take you to your friends, but I need you to trust me." While a part of me didn't want to trust this stranger, he seemed to be helping me. Plus, worst-case scenario, the bots would see that this guy had me and would come up to see him to check on me. So, even though it went in every direction possible, I nodded at him.

The two of us made it only a few steps toward the bar, where I actually remembered seeing the soliforms last when a voice spoke. "Dude, what do you think you're doing? I already had claims to dance with that girl." That...That was the voice of the man who gave me my drink. I didn't say I would dance….I...I can't...modern dancing...I,

"Doubtful," The voice of the guy who was helping me said. "My girlfriend doesn't like to dance with people she doesn't know." Girl...was this what he was planning to do to get me to the bots?

While I was leaning against the guy who just claimed that I was his girlfriend, a second male voice spoke in front of me. "Dude, that's a lie and you know it," Scrap that guy….he...this guy wasn't my...my, "I saw her come in with another group of guys. One of them would be her boyfriend if she had one." Shit...this...Why did it hurt to think?

"Just because my girlfriend came with our friends doesn't mean she isn't my girl." Damn this blonde guy was...good? I think, he was good at lying. It sounded...truth-like.

"If you are her boyfriend, prove it." The voice of the man who gave me my drink spoke. Wait...prove? How was the blonde going…

The world around me seemed to suddenly rush by me as the blonde's head was on the side away from the...at least five guys, from the sounds I was hearing. "Forgive me." I could barely tell that the blonde had spoken to me. Why would he…

The few thoughts I had going through my head instantly vanished when I felt his fingers tilt my chin slightly upward before I felt a soft warmth press against my lips. Was this...was he…? A brief flash of clarity came over me as I found my eyes locking with the violet ones across from them. After what felt like an eternity of me staring in those vast violet eyes, he moved his lips away from mine and turned his head. With the stranger's lips apart from my own, the fogginess and lack of control returned.

"Fine...whatever. Let's get out of this dump." The voice of the guy who gave me the water spoke.

The blonde started to move again and, after a moment, I felt multiple hands on me. I started to panic again until I heard the voices of the twins on either side of me. Then, Vox's and T.C.'s voices jumped in followed by the blonde's voice.

While I didn't pick up most of the words spoken, I did hear the blonde say the name 'Michael', and a couple other words while he pointed at himself. Michael. That was the name of an angel. This man was an angel who had selflessly fallen to help me. My fallen angel.

My vision seemed to go black for what I thought was a moment. But, when my blurry vision returned, I was laying my head down on the back seat of a car. Hmm, comfy seat. I think it's sleepy time. My world then went dark.

 **Frenzy's 1st P.O.V.**

I wasn't sure what to think.

On one servo, I was furious at those five human males that attacked Lizzie like this. How dare these human pieces of scrap poison Lizzie and try to take her. When they attacked her, they attacked the Decepticons and they would pay. No one hurt my sister and got away with it.

But, I also felt upset at myself and the others. This had been, first and most importantly, a mission given to all five of us by Lord Megatron. Work on testing the soliforms. While this seemed like a simple mission, the four of us mechs had forgotten something critical; keep an optic on your team. While I didn't doubt that Lizzie had been watching us, since that was her part in the mission, the rest of us should have kept an optic on her. We were in a small center of human social interaction and that meant that many kinds of humans would be drawn there.

Even pieces of slag like the ones that poisoned Lizzie.

We were all in debt to the blonde human who helped get Lizzie to us. Michael Vladimir Lincoln. He had explained to us what was wrong with Lizzie and had pointed out the men who had done this to her. If he hadn't of stepped in and helped the incapacitated Lizzie, then she could have been really hurt.

Rumble was following the men who did this while Vox had taken Lizzie back to the Nemesis through the bridge and was reporting to Lord Megatron about the situation. While I felt guilty, he seemed to be taking it just as hard, if not even harder, than I was. Maybe it was because of the whole space-bridge incident back then? I didn't know. Once the mech reported to Lord Megatron and returned, I wanted to destroy the men who did this. From the look on T.C.'s face, and I could see it easily from where he was standing next to me, he looked like he wanted to torture these men from now until the end of time.

The sound of motors caused me to look up and I looked surprised when I saw both Vox's and Breakdown's alt mode. I figured that Lord Megatron would send Vox back to help us teach these humans a lesson, but I didn't think that he would green-light more bots coming in on this. Once the two bots parked in front of us, Thundercracker and I moved into one vehicle each. He got into Vox's passenger side while I took a ride with Breakdown.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned the bot as we started to follow Vox to Rumble's coordinates.

Breakdown's soliform appeared next to me before he spoke. "I asked Lord Megatron if I could accompany Vox back. Since there were five humans who attacked the Coordinator, then I argued that five of us should deal with them." That made sense. "Though I was lucky to speak first. By the looks of it, Knockout, Starscream, and Skywarp were all itching to come here instead."

I knew that boss bot was angry at what happened, I could feel it through our bond, but he needed to stay on the ship. We had to do this as humans and I knew boss bot wanted to crush these humans with his own servos. "We let Lizzie down."

Instead of disagreeing with me, I was surprised when Baron, Breakdown's soliform, nodded. "You did. I'm not going to say you didn't. But, you all got her back to the ship in one piece and Knockout says that she'll be fine with some rest." I then noticed that his soliform visibly shivered. "Those humans have no idea what they did. Vox was angry when he was reporting to Lord Megatron, and I don't know how he is going to handle himself once he gets his servos on them."

"Good thing Thundercracker rode with him," I said. I was feeling calmer talking to Baron but, if I was with Vox, I doubted that I would be this calm.

"I'm not sure about that." Baron disagreed with me. "Starscream and Skywarp looked like, if it wasn't for Lord Megatron specifically ordering the others back, that they would have joined us and tore them apart." He then seemed to hesitate. "I have to say though, I'm glad I get to help here. It was because of Lizzie that Vox and I were saved from MECH. She personally went in and got us. Now, I get to return the favor...sort of."

That was another point. Both Vox and Breakdown owed Lizzie a lot. Vox probably felt like he failed Lizzie even more because she had saved him when he needed it but he hadn't realized that she was in trouble.

It wasn't long before we turned a corner and saw Rumble standing by an open gate at a zoo. Lizzie had suggested we go to one when we asked about the different animals on Earth. While zoos didn't have every animal on Earth, they had a variety. Made me wonder why those five would come here?

Once Breakdown and Vox stopped, the four of us walked up to Ryan and he led us through the zoo. As we passed the different animal holdings, I could see that many of them were asleep. But, the closer we moved toward the reptile section of the zoo, I heard the sounds of loud laughter and hisses. After the five of us turned a corner, I felt this soliform's eyes narrow as I saw the five humans who tried to take Lizzie taunting whatever was in that pit.

One of the least drunk ones turned to us and looked back before he quickly turned back to us. "Man, we got company." He then let out a hiccup.

The other five turned at his words and seemed to tense at first. But, then the leader of the group laughed. "Hah! You all are with that girl from the club right? Did her little boyfriend send you to 'teach us a lesson'?" He then finished off a bottle of alcohol in his hand. "You all don't scare,"

And that was all he got out before John moved in front of the human, grabbing him by the scruff of his collar and shoving him until he was leaning over the railing. When the others made a move to stop John, the rest of us jumped in and we each had a human in the same position that John had the leader. "We don't scare you?" John asked. "You should be afraid of us. You attacked one of our own, and that isn't something we can forgive."

"Dude, what the hell? I can't break his grip!" The worm I was restraining complained as he tried to break my hold on him. From similar outcries from the other lackeys, I knew that none of them would be getting away.

"What are you going to do?" The leader suddenly asked John. "Kill us? We have friends in high places that'll be onto you in no time. You have nothing!" He then let out a laugh.

Instead of showing his anger, like I thought he would, John simply paused and glanced to his side. "The Nile Crocodile. Crocodylus niloticus. You must enjoy taunting those that are stronger than you when there is something else protecting you from them." John then caught each of our eyes, and I knew that meant to follow his lead. "What would you do if you didn't have that protection?" John then shoved the leader over the railing and, not one to miss a beat, I did the same.

While I wanted to stay around and watch, I knew that we needed to report back to Lord Megatron. So, as screams started to fill the zoo, the five of us made our way back to John's and Baron's chassis. This night was more productive than I thought.

The next solar, I woke up and used one of the monitors in our room to check the local news where the zoo was located. One of the first articles caused me to smirk. 'Remains of Five Bodies Found in Crocodile Pit'. The rest of the article read that police believed that the men, whose bodies had high amounts of alcohol in them, must have accidentally fallen into the pit after the broke into the zoo.

The perfect way to start the solar.

* * *

 **Zarron: *frowns* Authoress, I think you have something against Wheeljack and me.**

 **Authoress: *confused* Why would you say that?**

 **Wheeljack: *points up to chapter* I don't know, how about you trying to kill us every chapter lately!**

 **Authoress: *shrugs* If I had something against the two of you, you would have died already.**

* * *

 **AN: Hey look! Another chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this! I know some parts got pretty serious, but I like to surprise my readers. Both Autobots and Decepticons had to deal with a 'drug' and its effects. With the Autos, we saw them deal with if a being took it willingly without knowing the consequences. With the Cons, however, we got to see how a being can be attacked with drugs. So, if this chapter teaches you anything, it's this: Don't Do Drugs!**

 **This chapter had a lot of hidden gems in it and plus, we got to meet a character who will be reoccurring in this story; Michael Vladimir Lincoln. I am so excited to see the scenes where he appears and I'm sure that the rest of you will learn to love him over time...if you don't already.**

 **Speaking on him, though, I hope the kiss scene was alright. Full disclosure here, I've never been kissed so I am totally going off of what I have read in stories. So, it might be a little tacky..or is it? I will say that some parts of the kiss scene are important for the future.**

 **Next chapter is the beginning of the end for season one and it is going to be one bumpy ride! There will be parts that you will see coming, and others maybe not so much!**

 **Okay, and now for the next couple of chapters!**

 **Chapter 23: Spark Fall**

 **Chapter 24: Enemy Within**

 **Chapter 25... (will be announced next chapter and this will be the last chapter of season 1!)**

 **Alright, that's all for now. Please leave a review so I know you are still there. Saying hi is plenty! Not sure when the next chapter will be up but I can guarantee that it will be fun! Until next time, TTYL! *singing Rolling Down to Old Maui***


	24. Spark Fall

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Rumble: *glances at title* Welp, somebot is dying.**

 **Lizzie: *confused and not looking at title* Why do you say that?**

 **Frenzy: *points to title* That.**

 **Lizzie: *looks* Oh no. *glares at Authoress* If you kill any of the Decepticons that I am close to...or just any who don't hate me, then I will hunt you down and make you regret starting to type this.**

 **Authoress: *neutral* We will see what happens when it happens. *walks away***

 **Skywarp: *nervous* Why does that scare me more than anything she has done before?**

* * *

Chapter 23: Spark Fall

 **Lizzie's 1st P.O.V.**

"Why can't we drop this already?" I grumbled over the comm as I explored the cliff I stood on.

One week. That was how long it had been since the incident at the club. Ever since, I couldn't move out of the sight of the others without being bombarded with their concern or worry. Don't get me wrong, I was glad that they cared, but a week of almost an entire ship of mother hens could get really old really fast. I was lucky that I was able to get out here as it was.

This cliff I was on was supposed to have one of the relics from the Praxian database. With everybot being such worry-bots, I had asked Lord Megatron, the only bot who was not in my house of enemies that was not smothering me, if I could go and start uncovering the relic at this location. He, thankfully, agreed that I could go alone and I had been searching this area for the better part of a cycle now. If it wasn't for my armor and helmet, I would be roasting in the sun.

" _Because you could have been hurt, Lizzie. We should have been keeping an optic on you in the club and we didn't."_ Rumble argued.

" _Yeah, we went to clubs on Cybertron, even during the war, and we know the dangers. But, we slacked off because...it was a human club._ " Frenzy added, a shameful sound in his voice as he said the last part.

Well, there was a nice blow to my ego. But, admitting that they slacked off before screwing up helped a little, even though I didn't blame anyone but the men who drugged me and myself, for allowing that to happen.

"Enough! I've already explained to all of you that I'm the one who messed up. You all were there to interact with humans and learn to blend in while I simply was supposed to observe. My older friends, ones who could legally drink, always warned me to never let my drink out of my sight in public. If I did, I wasn't supposed to drink it. I did both things against what I was told."

The twins, who I were talking to right now, were reacting the worse followed closely by Starscream. Seriously. Those three were going to be the death of me...and that was impressive since Airachnid and Astrotrain probably wanted that same thing.

" _But Lizzie,"_ Frenzy started to argue.

I was not having any of that though. "Seriously mechs, Michael saved me and involved you all. So, I'm alright and, from the article Shockwave showed me, the men who tried that were taken care of." An involuntary blush appeared on my face when I mentioned Michael. He...he kissed me. I know he did it to trick the men who drugged me but, I couldn't forget it. That was my first kiss. And his eyes. They looked so familiar to me as I thought back on them. But, I wasn't sure where I could have seen them before. Honestly, the only thing that I knew about Michael was that I owed him, and I owed him big time.

" _Fine."_ I heard a strained response come from Rumble. _"But did you have to go and leave the base? Boss bot won't even let us come and see you. Said something about 'steam' and you letting it off."_

I sighed as I continued to look around. I really did need to let off some steam but I could hear that they sounded hurt. Better make them feel better. They did share a bed with me and all. "I just needed to get away from base for a while mechs. While humans are social beings, we do need times to ourselves and, honestly, I don't get a lot of that on the Nemesis. So, I figured I could get that done and look for this relic as well." Plus, I didn't say this out loud, but I seriously needed to get away from the mother hens. Outside of the twins and Starscream, the others had been worrying about little things that, before the club incident, they didn't worry about.

The final straw had been this morning when Ian Amsel, Blitzwing's Icy personality, walked into the shower because the twins and all of his personalities had been worried when I had taken longer in the shower than normal at the beginning of this solar. That definitely got my heart rate up and Soundwave had been in the wash rack faster than I could blink and Blitzwing, after Ian had returned to his chassis, had bolted away from the angry TIC.

Whenever my heart rate got up over the past week, Soundwave didn't hesitate to intervene, which was his mother hen action. Nightmare, jump scare, and anything else that got it up, he was there. Frag, he even interrupted training the fourth solar after the incident. After this morning, I was hoping that Soundwave realized he was getting too into my business and backed off a little. That would be one down, and almost a whole ship to go.

" _Okay…"_ Rumble started. After a minute, he continued. _"Fine, we won't worry about that."_ He had a knowing tone in his voice. What was that about? It almost sounded like he had a smirk on his face. The tone of his voice was just saying that I was going to like this change of conversation even less. _"Answer us this then; what's with how you've been acting when Lord Megatron is mentioned?"_

I felt panicked, though I kept my body under control so Soundwave wouldn't freak out, as I heard that question. How was I acting around our leader? Was it bad? I needed to know! "What do you mean?" I asked as the scanner in my hand showed that the relic was under this cliff, and just under the edge of the cliff.

Once I put the scanner away and started to walk toward the edge, Frenzy picked up with the same tone in his voice that Rumble had in his. _"What does he mean? Ever since that training session you had with his soliform, your face turns red and you can't look at anybot in the optics when he is brought up...especially when they talk about you and him training again eventually."_

Once I got to the edge, I paused as a burning heat passed through my cheeks. Damn, I was hoping that wouldn't be brought up. The way we had landed at the end of the training session…it had been way too close. I had felt his breath against me, and it had felt so real. I wasn't used to being so close to people period...and especially guys. Plus, it didn't help that Lord Megatron had made his soliform so close in age to my own age and he did look…Shaking my head out of diving down that one-way ticket to death, I grabbed a hold of the ledge and climbed down so I was next to where the relic was supposed to be. I saw what seemed to be the corner of one of the canisters that were seen in season two that held relics. This had to be it.

Since I still had to answer the twins, I decided to give one of the reasons for the blushing...though definitely not the major factor of it. "It was just, I thought I was doing good on my training in fighting." I then paused and took out the dagger that I carried on my armor before I started to dig. "It was a bit of a blow to my pride that Lord Megatron was able to take me down so quickly. I figured I could at least last a click in that fight. But, I was pinned down before I could really get going. It was a hard blow to my thoughts that I still had so far to go. So, it caused me to be embarrassed. I'll get over it eventually." By this time, I had the relic pretty much loose so I searched my frequencies and added Soundwave and Lord Megatron in on the call. "Soundwave, I almost have the relic unearthed. Has its GPS tracker popped up yet?"

" _Negative. Readying for bridge to open beneath you. Leap of faith."_ Soundwave responded. So, that meant that the signal was still covered by the rock and that he was going to open the bridge under me in a click or two. Once I heard that bridge open, I would wretch this canister out of the ground and fall through the bridge. Should be a rush compared to everything that the others were letting me do lately.

As I reached up toward the canister, I heard a bridge open, but it sounded like it was behind me and not beneath me. "A little off their Soundwave. That opened behind me...not below me." This wasn't like Soundwave but, as I grabbed the canister and started to pull, I felt a cold chill run up my back as a second bridge sounded to open beneath me. Almost in tandem, I heard the sound that I heard all the time on videos during my strategist training and during live feeds of the battles.

Instinctively, I yanked at the canister and, almost instantly as I started to fall as a blue light enveloped both me and the now disintegrating ledge. As I felt myself turned and thrown against the side of the cliff from the force of the blaster that just hit me, I saw a blurry figure. It wasn't Decepticon. It wasn't…

As I fell through the bridge and my back hit something hard, my vision went dark.

 **Skywarp's 1st P.O.V.**

I was freaking out right now and I didn't do freak out well. That was especially since, when I walked in just now, the twins had started to freak out before Soundwave opened his bridge. Something was wrong and it had to be something with Lizzie. Frag it! My brother was right. She was the sole incarnation of bad luck! She was pushing us all away after the club incident and, while Blitzwing might have gone a little too far, we were all a little more cautious around our human Decepticon. Well, everybot except for Airachnid and Astrotrain of course.

And, surprisingly, Lord Megatron. I figured that, since she was the frailest of his current Decepticons on the ship, that he would at least want to keep an optic on her to avoid losing one of us that he trained himself. But, he let her have her space. If it wasn't for the panic right now, I would say that was a good call. Of course, I wasn't going to be sharing these thoughts with Lord Megatron.

I flinched as Lizzie suddenly fell through the bridge at a fast speed and her back slammed into the ground. That was going to hurt her later, that I knew. But, the suit would have stopped anything from breaking. That was one positive. But, if Lizzie thought we were bad before, then she had no idea what we were about to do now.

Lord Megatron walked up to where Lizzie was laying, the bridge above her already closed before he reached down and took the relic canister away from her. It was weird how her arms fell next to her but I figured she might be tired from the fall. I knew I wouldn't be ready to hop up after falling that length for my height.

I focused back on Lord Megatron as he opened the canister's top before taking it off. When Lord Megatron hesitated, I was nervous. Just what was the relic in that canister that would make our leader hesitate? We had found everything from data-cylinders to swords to cannons. Something had to be different from…

No way.

My spark stopped when Lord Megatron carefully took the relic out of the canister. That...that was… "The spark extractor." Our leader stated as he held the relic for all of us to see. I wasn't sure if Lizzie knew why this was so important but she should be able to guess from the name that it was dangerous and would give us a huge edge in the battle for Earth.

Wait...why hadn't Lizzie said anything yet? I doubted she knew anything about the extractor and she would normally be asking a ton of questions about something like this. But, as I glanced back at her, she was still just laying there. She wasn't making a sound and her breathing seemed quiet and, if it wasn't for the fact that her body was moving as she took a breath, then I would question that she was.

"This...I thought this was destroyed?" Starscream asked in shock.

Our leader nodded and handed the device to Soundwave before turning to Lizzie. "Lizzie, this is good work. After you debrief with Shockwave, you are to take the rest of the solar to recover." That worry I was feeling multiplied as no answer came from Lizzie. Just that continual small breathing. This definitely wasn't right. Even after an intensive servo-to-servo training session with all three of Blitzwing's soliforms against her, she would answer Lord Megatron almost immediately. "Ms. Val." Our leader spoke a little louder. Still no reaction. "Val!" We all flinched as he yelled that. Well, everyone except for Lizzie. Like she had since she fell through the bridge, she continued to take those small breaths. "Knockout, examine Lizzie."

"Yes, my Lord." Knockout responded before transforming and using his soliform to walk up to Lizzie. I could see Kalan's, Knockout's soliform's, reaction as he pressed his fingers against her neck. From what little I knew about making sure a human was alive, that was where you checked for a pulse. Kalan's looked hardened before he reached under Lizzie's helmet and undid the latches before taking it off.

I knew as soon as he did that something was wrong. Lizzie's skin looked sickly and there were dark circles under her eyes. Knockout seemed to react to this immediately by deactivating his soliform and transforming before moving to Lizzie and scanning her body. "Knockout, report." Lord Megatron asked.

You could cut the tension in the room as the scanner beeped. "Energon poisoning. Must have been from whoever came out of that first bridge Lizzie mentioned." He then picked her up, gently, before turning to Lord Megatron, "My Lord,"

"Permission granted. Go, and take who you need." Lord Megatron responded to Knockout. It was obvious what Knockout was going to ask our leader. He needed to get to work on Lizzie, and quickly.

Since my warping ability might help, I didn't even wait for Knockout to ask as I followed him to med bay. Plus, I could help keep tabs on Lizzie's condition for T.C. and 'Scream. It was almost hard to focus on keeping up with Knockout as I felt their worry. This wasn't good at all. All Knockout had said was that Lizzie had been overly exposed to energon. But, she had never been exposed to energon before. We didn't know how to work with Lizzie with energon in her body.

When we reached med bay, I wasn't surprised that Joe was already here. Both he and Knockout had been working extensively in studying human medicine. They were both the most qualified to work on Lizzie. Hook had said that, since we only had Lizzie as a human to worry about, that both of them studying at the same time would detract from time that they needed to work on us all. He was going to learn after Knockout studied all he thought he needed to. Given Knockout's perfectionist tendencies, then we all knew that was going to be a while.

As Knockout set Lizzie down on the berth, which seemed too big to be holding her, he motioned to Joe. "We can't waste any time. The energon is already spreading into her systems and we have to try and stop it without opening Lizzie up. Since the energon probably came in through blaster contact, given the bruising starting to form on her body, then it would be pointless to open her up. We have to find a way to stop this, and quickly.

While I wanted to stay and keep an optic on Lizzie, I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to. _"All Decepticons hearing this message, report to the ground bridge immediately. The Autobots are attacking mine CC-3436."_ While I didn't want to leave Lizzie, I knew that I had to follow orders. So, I took one last look at Lizzie before I ran out of the med bay and to the ground bridge.

 **Knockout's 1st P.O.V.**

Frag it all to the Pits. Once I got my servos on whatever bot shot at Lizzie, I was going to make sure that their offlining was slow and excruciating. Even with her armor on, Lizzie didn't look different from any other human that would be seen on Earth, and they were eccentric enough that thinking she was anything but another human was impossible. But, none of the Decepticons were located anywhere near Lizzie to have done this. No, this had to be the work of the Autobots. I wanted to say that I was surprised, but I really wasn't. With the Autobots currently on Earth, I could think of a servo-full that might do this to a human.

"Joe, keep that line in. We need to keep her as stable as we can." I growled at my assistant for this. While Breakdown was my assistant for normal situations, this was anything but normal. Since Lizzie was human, and the only organic on the Nemesis, then there was a limited amount of knowledge that we knew about caring for them. While Breakdown did know a little about human health, for when he trained with Lizzie, Joe was more informed on the subject and that was what I needed right now.

"Knockout, her blood-pressure is dropping!" Joe yelled out, causing me to look up from the scans that I was doing.

Rushing to his side, I took in the situation before saying, "Get her on oxygen and get fluids going into her. We need to get her blood pressure back to normal." Joe nodded and, as he went and grabbed the fluids, I got the oxygen mask over her face before I continued my scan. Her body seemed to be reacting to the energon in her body like it was an infection.

So, while Joe hooked up the fluids, I grabbed another line, making sure that the antibiotics were in there, before hooking Lizzie up to it. Scrap this is not good! I didn't know how to treat a human that had been infected with energon! We knew that energon was dangerous to humans, but Lizzie was always so cautious around the substance that we never had to worry about it...well, until now that is.

"Knockout!" I had a feeling that was going to be hearing that tone a lot during this issue. Turning, I felt my optics widen when I noticed Lizzie's body convulsing. Slag! Slag! Slag!

Running up to Lizzie, I continued to focus on how my scans were updating as we treated these reactions that Lizzie's body was having to the energon. As useless as I felt in just treating the symptoms, that was all that we could do as we learned more about what was going on in her body.

As I treated our human Decepticon, however, my thoughts drifted to her circumstances. Was it the fate of Lizzie to always have to fight for her life? In broad senses, this was the second time that Lizzie had fought for her life. The first time was when she worked to earn her place in the Decepticon fold. If she would have failed her test, then she would have been killed. We had all seen examples of how smart she was, given that she was able to prank the twins who were legendary for pranking without being pranked. But, her loyalty had been in slight question, given her mysterious appearance onto the Nemesis before my own arrival. But, that fight for her life had ended with her victory.

Now, as I looked at the human, I found myself hoping to anything that would listen that Lizzie could pull out of this again. She needed to. I knew that, technically, this was out of her hands. Her mind, from my scans, was struggling just to keep her body functioning, let alone fight against the energon that was attacking her systems.

While she wasn't stable, Lizzie seemed to be doing alright enough for me to look into the medical notes that I had for her. Thousands upon thousands of articles that humans posted on human problems, one of these had to give me answers. It had to! There were human's whose sole purpose in their short lives was to study the makeup of their species and determine how best to treat it in many situations. There were many articles but, so far, there was nothing that was going to help me treat Lizzie. Dog bites, snake poisoning, fish poisoning, bacterial infections, fungal growths, blood poisoning...none of these were getting me anywhere! What use was human medicine when it couldn't help me when I needed it?!

I let out a growl as I switched my focus from human medical articles to medical books. There seemed to be just as many of those as there were the articles. Plus, I didn't hold back. Not only did I look at their most recent medical books, but I allowed myself to delve further into their past to see what 'ancient' humans would do in different medical emergencies. The soul cleansing seemed like a good idea, but the time the process would take would take too long. Lizzie, while it seemed she was fighting to stay alive, would not have the energy to keep up the fight for another week. It would be a miracle of Primus if she lasted that long.

So, while that seemed promising, I moved away from that and focused back on physical remedies. The medicine we were pumping into her now was not stopping the energon...only fighting back as it was pushed further into uselessness.

I jumped when I felt a servo tap on my shoulder. "What is it?" I asked Joe. I was stressed about this entire thing and I wasn't sure if my processor could take something else going wrong right now.

"Could we possibly try and draw out the energon like humans do when they donate their plasma?" His question seemed so strange but, as I thought about it, I realized that it might just work out.

"Quickly. We don't have a lot of time. This could work for us." I told him as I moved to make the preparations. While this seemed like a hopeful tactic, I knew that a lot of what we were doing was guesswork. Everything that we were doing could, in reality, just be making Lizzie's condition worse. But, with the presence of energon, then we couldn't take her to a human facility and I was sure that Lord Megatron would have all of our helms if we involved another human with the Decepticons.

Lizzie was still our test run. While she was done with her own tests, we as Decepticons were still using her to test interactions with humans and how to deal with humans. Something told me that this situation would be critical for future human interactions that we made. If we….no, if _I_ couldn't get Lizzie stable and on the road to recovery, well...it would change everything.

 **Starscream's 1st P.O.V.**

Slag this femme was annoying. The two-wheeler in front of me, Chromia, knew how to fight and it was making it hard for me to think about anything but the fight. While that was normally something I should do, I was worried about Lizzie and her condition. These fragging Autobots, claiming to be the champions of the humans and fighting for them, I wonder how they would react to know that one of their own had injured the human that they were wanting to save? I bet they would have second thoughts on their whole philosophy. Hypocrites. That was what it was to be an Autobot it seemed.

I flinched as the femme lashed out at me with her wrist blade and I had to dodge backward to avoid it. My wings scraped against the wall of the cave and I couldn't stop a grimace from coming on my faceplate. It was too tight in here. I wasn't normally in the mines, but this was a major stronghold of energon for our troops. While we didn't need the energon as much anymore, since the soliform program had been tested and the food they ate could be converted to energon for our chassis, it would still be a major loss if we allowed this mine to fall to the Autobots. With their possession of the energon harvester, then they could take the resources from this mine faster and, with the amount of energon in this mine, we were looking at them being set for quite some time.

With how the Autobots seemed to be fighting, I had a feeling that we were going to be in this battle for quite some time. This, for them, was a gift from Primus if they could get it. We wouldn't let them take it, though. There were contingency plans that could be put into immediate action to make sure that they were not able to get this energon.

I had heard the Autobots say that they were outnumbered by us. It was almost enough to make me laugh. True, we did have the drones. But, their fighting ability on the battlefield was just above Lizzie's, in all honesty. While we were working on remedying that, right now they were barely useful for us. They weren't proficient at fighting. The Autobots could send just one of their scouts against a platoon of drones and the Autobot had the higher chance of coming out of that confrontation alive. In all terms, we were on equal terms in numbers, and our side had more tanks to keep filled with energon. Logistically, we were at a greater disadvantage than the Autobots were. But, they wanted to show us as the pure villains and, what kind of 'hero' had the advantage over their enemy? Slag one of Lizzie's reports had even focused on this disadvantage in our troops and how the enemy might misconstrue it.

With that thought, my processor returned to Lizzie and her current fight of survival. She was the purest form of bad luck that I had ever met. Her most recent scrape of bad luck, before this, suddenly hit my processor as I dodged a swipe from the Autobot I was fighting.

Flashback

 _I shook my helm as I looked down at Lizzie. She was resting on the med berth that she had been placed on the nano that Vox had brought her here. Drugged. The team on the soliform testing run had forgotten to keep tabs on Lizzie and she had been poisoned by those human scum. They had attacked us. The only thing stopping me from joining Breakdown and Vox on their return trip to deal with these scum was orders from Lord Megatron that only they would take care of it. Slag I had wanted to go against his orders right then. But, the Decepticons were acting as a more unified unit as of late and it would not do me any good to ruin that then._

 _As I watched the human Decepticon recover, I felt anger towards my brother and the others on that mission. Clubs were nothing new to us. They had them on Cybertron and most of us were regular visitors of clubs on Cybertron. We knew the dangers there...especially for femmes, but they put all the cautions you were supposed to take and shoved them to the side because they were in human forms. That almost cost Lizzie._

 _If it wasn't for the other human that Vox reported on, Michael, then Lizzie's situation could be far worse. Using the information that Vox had reported to Lord Megatron, Soundwave was currently looking into whatever information we could about the human. We owed him, and I knew that Lord Megatron was not happy about that. He did not appreciate being in debt to anyone, much less a human male that we knew almost nothing about._

" _You're hovering."_

 _I turned and glanced at Knockout as he walked up. "How is she?" Frag it Lizzie was partially my responsibility still, ever since I allowed her to remain on the ship those many solars ago, and I needed to hear something positive about her situation. I was sure that Soundwave was listening in to this conversation as well and, since he was her guardian in all rights, then I knew that this answer would help him too._

" _Stable." Knockout motioned to Lizzie. "The drug that those maggots used on her has almost worked its way out of her system and her functions are reading as stable. Physically, she is going to be fine by tomorrow."_

 _There was a hesitation in his vocals that I didn't like when he stressed the word 'physically'. "And what about her mental state?" I pushed the medic._

 _If I expected an easy answer, I would have been upset. "It's not something that I can prepare for. I just don't know enough about human medical studies to know how her brain will react to the situation that happened. In all purposes, the drug had rendered her helpless. She was completely dependant on whoever came to her. The last time Lizzie was helpless...well…"_

 _My processor flashed to the incident with Astrotrain and I felt worried. She had not reacted well to that at all and, if that happened again, Lord Megatron might not be so forgiving at the time she might waste in trying to put herself back on track. "I'll keep an optic on her when she wakes up," I spoke, both to Knockout and to Soundwave since I was sure that he was listening._

End of Flashback.

It seemed, though, that with all of us on her side keeping an optic on her, that Lizzie felt the need to get away from us all. While that did lead to us getting a crucial relic that would definitely tip the favor of the fight for Earth into our servos, Lizzie had been shot with an energon blast. While the suit had protected Lizzie from external damage, the armor had not been able to stop the actual energon from infecting her systems.

And instead of being up there with her, making sure that Knockout had everything he needed, I was trapped in this fragging mine fighting this slagging femme! "Why don't you focus on our fight Decepticon?" Chromia growled at me. "You sparkless monsters can't do anything but destroy. I shudder to think about what you are doing to that poor human right now."

A snarl escaped my vocals at that as I lunged at her. That glitch, she had no idea what was happening right now. I would make sure she learned to not mess with the Decepticons. Lizzie was safer with us then I felt she would ever be with their backstabbing and hypocritical kind.

While I wanted this fight to be quick, the logical part of me knew that this battle had only just begun.

* * *

 **Starscream: *growls protectively* Where is that little glitch? Where is the Authoress?**

 **Skywarp: *growls* We'll tear her to pieces for this. Attacking Lizzie, the weakest of the Decepticons.**

 **Authoress: *hiding away from angry Decepticons* This is what I get when I listen to Lizzie. 'Don't hurt any of the other Decepticons' she says. Yeah, look what I get when I leave the bots alone. Hunted down in my own area.**

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter! The end of season one has begun and Lizzie is fighting for her life. This fight for the energon, and Lizzie's life, has only just begun. Since this fight for the mine will be central for a while, we will be cutting this note short.**

 **So, that leads us to the titles of the next chapters!**

 **Chapter 24: Enemy Within**

 **Chapter 25: All Fall Down**

 **Chapter 26: ... (Start of season 2 is here so you won't find this out for a while!)**

 **That's all for now. Please leave a review, even to say hi! I like seeing that you all are aware of what is going down. So, that's all for now. TTYL! *thinking about future of the chapters***


	25. Enemy Within

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Paul: *sighs* I'm not coming in on this for a point of view...am I?**

 **Authoress: *shakes her head* No, but neither is Lizzie so that's good.**

 **Paul: *curious* Why isn't Lizzie coming in?**

 **Authoress: *shrugs* How should I know? You're a god and you don't know.**

* * *

Chapter 24: Enemy Within

 **Zarron's 1st P.O.V.**

I was such an idiot. I was a scout. It was my job to analyze situations around me and make sure that we weren't falling behind in what we needed to do. When we arrived, I knew that our numbers were growing larger then what could be balanced out between the bots here. I should have seen much earlier that Ratchet was the only true medic that we had to take care of injuries that we may sustain. But, I allowed the mission I was on to cloud my view of what was right in front of me. We were in trouble now and I allowed my blindness to put us here.

This battle, here in the mine, it was going on longer than I thought it would. In past times, the 'Cons had simply left the mine after a few shots were fired. Of course, those mines that they left were almost drained. From the little I had seen during my scouring of the mines so far, this mine was still running in full production. But, that didn't fully explain the Decepticon push to fight right now. It was almost as if…

I raised my swords and barely blocked the attack that came at me. Once I finally got my bearings to get a good look at the bot who attacked me, I saw that it was Vox. While that Decepticon was not a part of my larger mission, I was asked to look into his case by a friend and I felt like now was another time to try and get information out of the previous Autobot. "Vox, we meet again." Best to start out the banter simple so I wouldn't scare him off from answering.

Vox, in turn, looked guarded as we continued to strike at each other. "Zarron. It seems you Autobots aren't firing on all cylinders as usual."

I could tell that he was trying to bait me. Trying to get me angry and make me falter. Give him an opening to hit me. But, I wasn't an idiot, and I certainly didn't come online the other solar. So, instead of getting angry, I decided to try and throw him off his game. "You were once one of us." I started. Immediately, I noticed Vox tense slightly and his optics narrowed.

"One of the worst mistakes in my existence, I assure you." Vox shot at me verbally before he struck out at me with his fist. I winced when the shot, though deflected, graved against my shoulder. I had to be careful.

"Why was that Vox? What happened that caused you to switch sides?" I pressed the mech, feeling like now was the right time.

Instead of getting an answer though, Vox merely growled at me before launching forward. It was hard to keep up with his blows, both verbal and non-verbal. The mech was giving me nothing. While this was only a side mission that I was doing, I wanted to find out this answer. I never knew Vox personally, but the bot that I was trying to find the answers for knew him very well, and his betrayal shook him to his spark.

Flashback:

" _Zar, wait."_

 _I turned and watched as the brown and orange truck mech walked toward me. He wasn't large for a truck mech, but many always thought that my friend was a warrior. Remcy was anything but a warrior. While he could fight, Remcy was a top intelligence agent. Before the war broke out, he worked for the CIA and did plenty of work for them. Once the war started, and we joined the Autobots, he immediately used his skills to train mechs and femmes that could learn and help our fight against the Decepticons._

" _What is it Rem?" I could see that my friend was worried about something, and he wasn't one to worry unless he was sitting in front of his monitor screens._

 _My friend closed the distance between us and motioned for me to sit. Seeing that there were a few cargo pallets that were still unloaded on one of the cargo ships, I sat on one of those and he sat next to me. "I heard that you are going to be leaving on a mission soon. Heading to Cybertron and maybe other places right?"_

 _I nodded. It wasn't a secret here that I was going to be doing one of my jobs as a sort of internal affairs officer for the Autobots to check on the status of bots on Cybertron currently and those that, if I was able to access them, on Earth. My mission was going to take time, and I had no doubt that it would be dangerous. These were the Decepticons I was going to be dealing with along with possible traitors to our cause. "Yeah, I leave at the beginning of tomorrow. Why do you ask?"_

 _Remcy looked around nervously, which wasn't like him in the slightest before he let out a vent. "I need you to do me a favor if you can."_

" _Sure Rem, what is it?" I knew that Remcy wouldn't ask me to do something crazy and so I felt that, if given the opportunity to help my friend, then I could._

 _He looked at me directly before he spoke. "It's Vox. That report made when he supposedly defected...it never added up to me. Vox wasn't the kind of bot to just attack somebot. With the rumors I've been grabbing from our intercepted communications saying that he is still alive, I find that I need answers…answers that I can't find here." He looked torn about this._

 _And I knew why. Vox had been one of Remcy's top students and we thought that he was as steadfast an Autobot that there could be. Remcy gave him special training that he never even thought about giving to any of his other students. Vox was Remcy's right servo. When we read the report from the Autobot Flamewar that Vox had tried to offline her while they were scouting Praxus after the attack...it seemed to destroy Remcy. He couldn't believe that Vox could do that. Honestly, from what Remcy told me of Vox, I found that I never could either. But, subsequent reports that showed him fighting for the Decepticons seemed to validate her report._

 _However, Remcy was an intelligence agent. He wanted to know why something happened as well as the how. "What do you need me to do Remcy?" I wanted Remcy to ask me fully, even though I had an idea of what he needed._

 _My friend's optics held mine. "Zarron. If you run into Vox during this mission of yours, could you try to find out...find out why?" His voice told me about the confusion that Remcy still felt at Vox's betrayal._

 _Smiling, I put a servo on my friend's shoulder. "Hey now, we're friends...even if you are from Iacon." He laughed and nudged me at that. Usually, he was the one teasing me that I was the one from Tarn. "If I run into Vox, I'll try as many times as needed to get his side of things." We then grasped servos. "I promise."_

End of flashback.

I let out a grunt as Vox forced me back away from him. This was not good. I needed to get that answer from him, and I was sure that Rem didn't want me to cut open his previous protege to do that. However, the mech was being stubborn about this. I needed the information about his betrayal. Vox didn't know it, I hope, but his betrayal of the Autobots hit Remcy more than he would want anybot to know about. He hadn't taken a protege since and didn't socialize with anybot that either he or his close friends didn't know.

I needed those answers!

 **Hook's 1st P.O.V.**

There was little that I found more frustrating than the situation I was in. Here I was, worried about Lizzie and her current condition due to the energon poisoning, and the only bot who could probably help Knockout find a cure was the enemy that I was facing. Ratchet, though getting on slightly in his stellars, was a miracle worker. All of our reports about his prowess in his field, from before and during the war, showed this countless times.

But, as I traded blows with the medic, I knew that he was not an option. Allowing the Autobot medic to work on her would risk revealing too much information on her that we were trying to keep away from them. The fact that Lizzie, who the Autobots thought was our prisoner, was really a full Decepticon now, was just one of those pieces of information.

No matter how I looked at it, I realized that Primus had to be a cruel mech to allow this. Lizzie was everything that the ancient texts used to say that Primus looked for in exceptional beings. Long Haul was always looking into those. Anyways, those attributes were that the being had to be caring, wise, humorous, and loyal to their beliefs. Even after such a short time of knowing the human, it was easy for me to see that Lizzie had these traits. With these traits, though, how did Primus find it acceptable to make that human suffer like she was? It never would make sense to me.

"Would you answer a question; medic to medic?" I looked at the enemy in front of me, curious about where his processor was taking him. I was his enemy and he expected me to answer a question?

However, this might work to our advantage. I would have to run it by Soundwave, but if Ratchet was willing to ask a question, he might be able to answer one about energon poisoning. I was sure that Knockout would not mind any advice at this point since he had yet to report in that Lizzie was stable. As I sent my idea to the third in command, I nodded toward Ratchet. "It depends on the question." I carefully answered him. While I waited for the medic to respond, Soundwave sent me a negative to ask my question. It might risk giving the Autobots insight into what was happening with Lizzie on the Nemesis.

I had to be careful to not slip up. There were factors about happenings in our ranks, and mainly with Lizzie, that we were keeping away from the Autobots specifically to cause them to lose focus during a fight.

The Autobot medic hesitated slightly before he spoke. "What is the condition of the humans on the Nemesis? Are they still online?"

Well looks like I wasn't going to be able to answer the Autobot truthfully. "There is no way to really tell." Well, maybe not as much of a lie as I thought it was.

Plus, as the Autobot went away, and in a direction that I was allowed to let him go, I thought. There was something else that the Autobot said when he asked that question that had me confused. He spoke as if we had more than one human on the Nemesis. However, Lizzie was the only one that we had. What was he getting at?

As I thought more and more on a solution, I realized that the Autobots must have gotten footage from Lizzie in her suit when she led the recovery mission at the MECH base to recover Breakdown and Vox. We knew that sending her on that mission would risk her getting caught on the cameras, and that was why she had the suit. It was to disguise her so she wouldn't be recognized. However, making the Autobots think that we had two humans would push our advantage. They would be even less likely to try any thoughtless attacks against us with two humans supposedly in our custody.

"Soundwave, I'm sending you a clip from my conversation with the Autobot medic." I communicated the TIC before sending him the bit of my conversation with Ratchet where he made it known that the Autobots thought we had more than one human on board.

It wasn't long before Soundwave got back to me through private message. " _Understood. The message will be relayed to Lord Megatron for further analysis. Retreat back to lower levels to help hold back the Autobot attack.-Soundwave."_

Well, the sooner we got this fight over, the faster that we were going to be able to focus on Lizzie. She was on the Nemesis, fighting for her survival, and our great thinkers were down here fighting. I understood why, since this was a large mine that still had a lot of energon that could be taken from it. If we could save this mine, then we needed all forces able to do so. If we couldn't, though, we would still need all of our able forces to cause enough of a distraction to set up our alternate plan. The best that we could do was decide which strategy would be needed, and use it against the Autobots, before we could get back to the ship.

Knockout was worthy of his title of chief medical officer, there was no doubt of that in my processor. He may act a fool at times, but he received training from some of the greatest bots that Iacon ever produced during the end of the golden age. Ratchet was even one of those teachers. He was more than equipped to take the role. However, he was only just learning about human medical practices and, complicating that with energon would push even the greatest to their limit. Once he received the help of the likes of Shockwave, Soundwave, and Vox, the cure that we needed for Lizzie would be even closer than it was now.

As I moved through the caverns toward the lower levels, I started to focus back on the fight. If I wanted us to get our human Decepticon the help we needed, then we needed to focus on this battle. Before I let my thoughts go completely back to the fight I was about to walk into, I sent a quick hope to whatever being was willing to help her give Lizzie the strength to pull through this. Right now, she was weak and very vulnerable and, for her, that was dangerous.

 **Joe's 1st P.O.V.**

This was taking too long.

The cycling of Lizzie's blood to try and draw the energon out was not going as fast as we were hoping it was. The amount of energon that we were drawing out of her system was being replaced with twice as much of it inside of her body. This wasn't what we were hoping. There had to be something that we could do to increase the output of the energon from this blood cycling that we were doing. Knockout's scans were showing that Lizzie's body was fighting the energon that was working on diseasing her body. If she was fighting, then fate owed her the chance to survive. It needed to give her an advantage, to let her win against the energon.

But, so far, the energon was winning. Knockout was suggesting that, if something wasn't done to stabilize Lizzie within the next four cycles, then she would be offline before night fell. Looking at the human that I was checking on, I couldn't believe that. I couldn't imagine her offline. If it wasn't for this human, then I wouldn't even be here now. She had taken an initiative to put me in Knockout's sight and now, the mech was training me. While I wasn't thrilled about being put on the spot like Lizzie had put me in, I now realized how lucky I was that Lizzie did that for me.

Checking her fluids, I shook my head. This wasn't fair. This wasn't a fight that any of us were prepared to fight and Lizzie, the weakest of us, was on the frontline of the frontline. We just had to get the energon out of her. Lizzie had to take the fight to the energon itself.

"Joe, are you alright?" I looked at Knockout and he was studying me. From his look, I was guessing that he was worried that I was losing focus on Lizzie. That, of course, wasn't true in the slightest.

So, I nodded and motioned to Lizzie, "It's not fair. I feel completely useless right now. We keep working to help her, and nothing we are doing seems to be actively advancing her recovery. My systems feel like they are going to crash from this stress."

What I wasn't expecting Knockout to do was let out a sharp laugh. "You think you're stressed?" I then thought that he was going to start talking about the stress he was facing since he was the CMO of the Decepticon army. But, to my surprise, he motioned over to Lizzie. "Can you imagine what these past solars since she came on the Nemesis have been for her?"

I wasn't following what he was saying. "What do you mean?"

Knockout looked between me and Lizzie before he sighed. "Have I trained you in nothing besides medical work?" What the frag was he talking about? "Put yourself in Lizzie's position. A being as fragile as she is suddenly appears on a ship full of our kind with no memory of how she arrived. Then, from the click she wakes up, she has to learn how to interact with us, all the while finding her place among us while avoiding dying. Of course, the last bit can happen to her pretty quickly if she isn't careful. Her every weakness seems to have been exposed lately and, just when she is recovering, this happens." He let out a harsh laugh at that. "So, you say that you are stressed. Just think about everything Lizzie's been through. No matter how upset or 'stressed' you think you are, remember that it is nothing compared to what has been going on in that fleshy processor of hers."

A shiver went through my systems at that. Not only was the look that Knockout was giving me intense, but the facts that he brought up were hitting home as well. Lizzie had been fighting so much for her right to live lately, and I was stressed only now about her fight? Fighting for her life was something that Lizzie had been doing even before I met her here on the Nemesis. Yet, I was only just now thinking about it. I really needed to get my priorities straight on that account. Lizzie had been fighting all along and, yet, it was only now that she was physically hurt that I was worried about her.

So, instead, I turned my attention to her readings. What I saw, though, caused my optics to widen. "Knockout,"

"If this is about how stressed you are then I'm not interested." Knockout waved me off as he continued to sift through data-pads that were nearby.

"Knockout!" I said more forcefully to get his attention.

"What?" He asked. I pointed to the readings that the monitor was showing what her condition was. His optics widened as he looked at the readouts that I was looking at. "You didn't mess anything up did you? Because if I report this and it is just because you touched something..."

I shot him a look at that. "I've been freaking out too much to try touching anything. We haven't been able to do anything about this and you think I'm going to touch things without your say?" He had to be crazy. It was really quick and easy math to figure out. I'm a drone that is definitely replaceable and he is the chief medical officer on the ship. Let's see, who is most likely to be offlined for something like this? Oh, I know...ME!

His look relaxed at my response and he took one more scan of Lizzie. "Then I'll contact Soundwave and Lord Megatron. They need to be kept up on this situation." He then started to speak to the two in question.

As he did though, I felt the first bit of relief that I have felt since this entire mess began. While this wasn't the best thing that we could have hoped for, it was definitely a start in the right direction. Lizzie's vitals were, finally, stable. It must have just taken time for the separation of the energon from her blood to take effect. I wasn't sure what sort of deity we had to thank, but I was grateful. Lizzie was finally stable.

 **Airachnid's 1st P.O.V.**

"Come now Arcee, is that the best you can handle?" I taunted the femme in front of me. The two-wheeler that was my favorite Autobot target glared at me. Oh, she was so easy to taunt. "Of course, this might explain the way that you failed to save that partner of yours on Cybertron. What was his name again?"

The femme in front of me flinched at that before her eyes narrowed. Oh, that was a look that I thrived in. Arcee was so easy to manipulate. "I'll offline you Airachnid!" Arcee growled at me before launching forward. Oh, the ability to drive another being to blind rage, to manipulate them into doing exactly what you wanted without having to tell them to do so, it was what I lived on. And, Arcee was one of my favorite, and admittedly easiest, targets. Nothing could beat the high that I got from manipulating others.

But lately, since my arrival on the Nemesis, I wasn't able to do anything about it. Finally, I had a new femme in the form of the human Lizzie, but she wasn't easy to bait. I found that out that first solar I was on the Nemesis. That human had the nerve to talk back to me like she was so superior. And she seemed to have almost every other bot on the Nemesis wrapped around her fleshy digits. You would think that she was the queen of the ship with how she acted. Ha! If our leader wasn't protecting the human, then I would have already torn her apart, both mentally and physically, by now.

As I dodged Arcee's attacks, though, that thought took over. Lord Megatron seemed to have an unusual attachment to the human that was on board our ship. I did not have the background as to why that was, but he seemed to be on her side for much of what she did. There was nothing special about Lizzie, and yet Lord Megatron seemed to have made a place in the top ranks of the Decepticons for the pathetic human. Why our great Lord and Master would do such a thing seemed to be foolish.

The Lord Megatron that emerged during the war, energon-craving and ruthless, that was a leader to aspire towards. Cutting down all in his path. If that processor driven leader was here, then I would have been able to disembowel that fragging human long ago, and none of those mechs she had behind her would be able to stop me.

But, something killed that ferocious spark in Lord Megatron and I would bet every credit in my name and every beautiful helm in my collection that we had that fragging human to blame. So much power and ruthless drive, killed by a pathetic human fleshbag. Oh, when the time came for her offlining, and I knew that it was going to come, I would enjoy digging out her fleshy insides bit by bit. Oh, the look of terror on her face...I could just imagine it.

Movement from my right caused me to snarl as I barely dodged a glade that was aimed for my spark. When I looked, I saw the fragging femme known as Flamewar in front of me. Fragging piece of scrap. Her reputation was known even to me and I knew that I had to be careful with this Autobot. While she wasn't quite on the same level that I was, I knew that she was pretty talented in her own right. How she was even an Autobot, I would never understand.

"I have her handled Flamewar." Arcee seemed to growl at her teammate. Oh? Was this tension that I was feeling between the two of them. Strange, and I thought that they would get along so well?

Flamewar seemed to smirk at her fellow Autobot before she turned her attention back to me. "Right, and letting the hunter here back you in a corner was your plan? You're either brash or stupid." Oh, tension among the Autobots was happening.

Interesting.

While a part of me was excited and wanted to delve into that to really mess with the Autobots, I was even more angry at the fact that my alone time with Arcee was interrupted. "I think you need to step out Autobot. Arcee and I were having a very deep conversation when you blundered in." While the tension with the Autobots was definitely interesting, I liked my personal time with my favorite targets. This Autobot was in my way.

However, instead of backing off, this new Autobot had the nerve to smirk at me. "Oh, I don't blunder. I arrive exactly how I wish to."

While I wanted to rip the faceplate off of this annoying femme, I had to remind myself to stay calm. There was a plan in place between Astrotrain and myself and I could not allow my emotions to get the better of me. I couldn't afford to let the enemies goad me before the time was right. Everything had to go as smoothly as we could make it.

Of course, this plan was going to end with my ejection from the Decepticon cause. But, I wasn't much of a fan of being a team player as it was and I would have Astrotrain to feed me information. It would be very beneficial to work out this situation the way we planned. That human was going to fall, and I would enjoy every nano of pain that she would experience. I had the perfect weapon to really make our human Decepticon feel pain, even in the state that she was it.

" _Informational update: Lizzie's condition is stable.-Soundwave"_ I smirked when that news bulletin came in. Perfect. This was the moment I was waiting for. Soon, that human scum that had infested our ship would cease to exist, and in a way that would not be traced back to me until it was too late.

* * *

 **Starscream: *growls* I will find the Authoress. When I do, there will be blood.**

 **Shockwave: While I do not disagree with you, we must remember that we need the Authoress to make this right as well.**

 **Thundercracker: *reluctantly* You're right. But, she will pay for what she did. It was hard enough watching Lizzie without the Authoress' interference.**

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this! The fight for the mine continues on and we seem to be moving quickly. Confrontations are happening and those will continue to happen in the upcoming chapters.**

 **Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the change in Lizzie's condition. She is finally stable! But, the road to fully fighting against the energon may be a long one. Of course, that also depends on what Airachnid is planning with Astrotrain. Why is Lizzie becoming stable a good thing for the femme?**

 **Well, that's all for now. Next chapter is going to be the last chapter of season 1 and it is going to be a doozie! What sort of fun can I pull out of it? *disappears in head* *comes out* Regardless, here is the name of the next chapter (Since I'm not revealing the names of the season 2 chapters until I post its first chapter).**

 **Chapter 25: All Fall Down**

 **Chapter 26:... (Beginning of season 2)**

 **Chapter 27:... (still in season 2 so you have to wait!)**

 **Well, that's all for now! I hope you all have enjoyed. Don't forget to leave a review, even to say hi! (But please do one of these two if you review ;) ) So, until next time, TTYL! *learning about the crusades***


	26. All Fall Down

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Authoress: *excited* We have a birthday request! You all know what that means!**

 **All bots: *sing* Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear DarkPyralis! Happy birthday to you!**

 **Frenzy: *confused* Shouldn't we be singing 'sparkday' instead of 'birthday'?**

 **Authoress: *sighs* I really can't win.**

 **Skywarp: *angrily* Speaking of that, you still need to pay for what you did to...**

 ***all are banned except for Authoress***

 **Authoress: You all have to be banned because this is the end of the season and will be paramount to how the next season will start.**

* * *

Chapter 25: All Fall Down

 **Optimus' 1st P.O.V.**

Something wasn't right. Through my stellars of experience in fighting this war, and Megatron more specifically, I could say that I could tell how a battle was going to turn out. Yes, this was a rather large mine compared to the almost barren ones we have been able to take from the Decepticons, but when we had come to the mine, I had assumed that Megatron would not stay and fight for this mine long, since I knew that he has to have other mines that are larger than this that need his full attention.

I stepped to the side to barely avoid Megatron's sword before I had to put up my own sword in defense. As our blades clashed, my previous thoughts were supported. Megatron was fighting fiercely for this mine. I had fought against Megatron like this many times in the past and the determination in his optics was there, like other times when the battles were important.

I knew that I had to find out just what was so important about this mine in Megatron's optics, but right now I couldn't think about what the reason might be. From the little I had seen, and from what the other Autobots were reporting that they were seeing, the mine was used up to the point that it would only guarantee us energon for an earth months. Nothing that the Decepticons couldn't recover from.

Yet here we were, still fighting after one cycle. I couldn't understand what the logic behind this was.

Briefly, I went out of my thoughts as I had to dodge another blow from Megatron's blade. That was close. After a few clicks, though, I was able to return to my previous thoughts. As Megatron and I continued to fight, a worrying thought came to my processor. Megatron had two humans currently on his ship as a prisoner, one we did not know about. However, there was one that we did have information on. Lizzie. Paul's employee had been on the Decepticon warship for months now and I could not even begin to fathom what she might have gone through.

This fight, and its prolonged status, made me nervous about what the Decepticons might be doing to her on the ship right now. The other human, from the video feed that we saw from the MECH base, seemed to be supporting the Decepticons. While it was obvious that this unknown human was being manipulated by the Decepticons, I knew that this unknown human would, during this manipulation, also be a danger to Lizzie.

Could there be some act being done against Lizzie as we fought? That idea might explain the duration of time that was being used to fight for this mine for so long. As harrowing as that thought is, I could now not remove the idea from my helm. Experiments to Lizzie might cause the need for the Nemesis to be emptied, which would explain why Megatron was having his troops fight down here for so long.

"You seem very distracted Optimus." Megatron taunted me as our blades clashed in a draw. "Very unlike you." I could see it in his optics. A knowing look. I had fought Megatron for too long to assume that he couldn't read me. He knew what my thoughts were, and I could see the victory in his optics.

Of course, after all of these stellars of fighting against the leader of the Decepticons, I could read him as well. He was tense about something, I could see that from how he moved in his attacks. "It seems as if I am not the only one Megatron." While my opponent hid most of his reaction even from me, I could tell that I had struck a point. He was thinking about something outside of this fight as I was.

Megatron pushed our draw away and reset his pedes before we began to circle each other. The portion of the cave that we were in was one of the larger alcoves in the mine, excluding the main alcove of course. "While that may or may not be true, Optimus, your thoughts are easy to read." He then cast a smirk. "You are thinking of the femme human currently in our possession."

My optics narrowed at his taunt and, while a portion of me wanted to launch at my enemy, it seemed like I was finally receiving information on Lizzie. Over these months since the reveal of her capture by the Decepticons, we had tried to, not only save the human but to at least try to find out current information on the human. I could not let this chance to gather information pass me by. "Why do you hold her Megatron? What value could one human have to you?"

His continued smirk caused unease to settle in my circuits. "Well, that would be the question you would ask. However, the usefulness of the human currently in my possession has yet to be fully realized. Such strange creatures these humans are."

"What do you mean?" I pushed my opponent. Even though it did not go unnoticed to me that the warlord did not directly answer my question, I felt like I just had to keep at him. While the amount of time we were having to fight in the mine, so far, was deterring, this information would make up for that.

Megatron, as I expected, seemed to revel in my need for information. "Come now Optimus, even for you, this should be an easy answer to come by. I believe that you keep company with humans on a regular basis, do you not? And you have had this interaction with humans much longer than I have had with them. This should be most obvious to you."

I narrowed my optics at that. Yet again, another avoided answer. I knew Megatron, and I knew the mind games that he would play. He was trying to turn the question back on me to avoid answering. He was finally opening up about the condition of the human. I had to keep pressing him for the information.

 **Wheeljack's 1st P.O.V.**

"Fragging Decepticon," I growled to myself as I had to fall back slightly from fighting the seeker in front of me.

Thundercracker was pushing his advantage and, up until this point, I had not realized that Thundercracker was this skilled at fighting. Frag, and when I ran into him, I thought that this was going to be a simple fight. He was a seeker after all, and everybot knew that the majority of flying alt mode bots had claustrophobia. Even though it wasn't too bad on Springer, he had a small show of it when he would be cooped up somewhere small for too long. Thundercracker should be panicking right now since seekers were usually even more susceptible to claustrophobia than other flying alt mode bots.

But, that would be too slagging much to ask for, wouldn't it?

I had started fighting against the seeker when they first arrived to counter us at the mine. Over a cycle in these mines should have made the seeker on edge by this point. But, from what I was seeing, Thundercracker seemed much more composed than I would have given him credit for. If this kept up for much longer, then Springer was going to have to go back. That would put us at a major disadvantage since the 'Cons had both Astrotrain and Blitzwing.

Of course, if I had a credit for every time the Autobots were at a disadvantage, then I could have bought myself the best weapons that the universe could offer.

"Autobot,"

I looked at the Decepticon in front of me as he started to talk to me. "What do you want?" Was he really choosing now to have a little bit of talking?

The Decepticon across from me narrowed his optics slightly before he shifted his position. "What makes you an Autobot? What do Autobots fight for?"

Really? He was asking me about my beliefs in the middle of a fight? Well, since he was talking, I might as well take advantage of this. I had a lot of questions that I wanted to be answered and, if I answered his, then he had a better chance of answering mine. "I swore to be an Autobot to fight the Decepticons."

Before I could ask the mech my question, he turned the tables on me and asked another one. "No, I didn't ask who you fought. That much is obvious given our situation." The two of us then clashed blades and, once we were in a deadlock, he continued. "I asked you what you fought for? What do Autobots want?"

I was about to give the automatic answer that I had given plenty of times when I was asked this. I was an Autobot to fight for the rights of all bots and to do that I had to stop the Decepticons from taking those rights away. Simple enough. But, before I could get the words out of my vocals, I hesitated mentally. To Thundercracker, we were just trading blows back and forth and I didn't have time to answer. But, I was a talented bot. I could do two things at once.

But, thinking to everything that was happening here on Earth, I wasn't sure if I really believed that was what the Autobots were doing anymore. Zarron had this mission to root out bots who were going against that very idea here. Bots who were right under the Prime's optics. My processor went to the training session that Zarron, Cliffjumper, and I would do with Paul against Flamewar, Pitch, and Sentinel. If I really believed what I was telling Thundercracker, then there would have been no need for the Zarron, Cliffjumper, and me to get involved in that training in the first place.

Once Thundercracker and I were at an impasse again, I decided to throw the question back at the mech in front of me. What about you, Decepticon? What do you fight for? And what do the Decepticons fight for?"

Since the usual Decepticon mode of dealing with my questions was to not answer them, I was suspecting that the same would happen here. However, I was surprised when, after we clashed a few more times with our blades, Thundercracker actually answered. "The Decepticons fight to right the wrongs that were pushed on us by the leaders of Cybertron's past. I won't allow anybot to think that they are less than me as a bot just because of their status that Cybertron set up in its hierarchy. Some of the greatest Decepticon minds were once thought of as little more than slag." He then glared at me. "No, you being an Autobot is a choice, so I have no issue in saying that you are scum."

While I launched at the 'Con in front of me for calling me scum, I was surprised by the way that Thundercracker had answered me. He didn't hesitate when I asked him that, and it didn't sound like it was a rehearsed party line. While the first part was cutting it a little close, since they were preaching that false bit since the beginning of the war, the second part he said sounded like it was a lot more personal to him.

I wasn't an idiot. I knew that things weren't good in many of the cities that would create future Decepticons. Tarn and Kaon were the worst. While Vos wasn't as bad as the other two, even they had difficulties dealing with the Council. Only bots who were isolated in the other cities never realized just how tough it was for somebot.

Thinking about that also caused me to think about Zarron. He was from Tarn, and yet he was an Autobot. It made me wonder what caused him to choose the Autobots over the Decepticons. The number of Autobots from those three cities was very low. I even knew that much.

I flinched as I barely dodged Thundercracker's swords. Scrap. I had to put more focus on this fight. Thundercracker was better at fighting in a cave than I thought he was and that meant that I had to focus. He was pushing me back and, while I normally didn't want that, I realized that he was leading me back toward the main cavern. Why was he doing that? The mech would have a better advantage getting me alone, that way he could ambush me and lower my chance for backup. So, why was he leading me to the main area where most of the other fights were happening?

This didn't make a single scrap of sense to me. Of course, nothing that the Decepticons were doing here was making much sense. I just had to make sure that I was able to adapt to whatever the Decepticons were going to throw at us...and make sure that I was ready for just about anything.

 **Megatron's 1st P.O.V.**

The mine was almost ready. About thirty clicks into this fight, I had realized that we were not going to be able to hold the mine. While we had the numbers to do just that, I knew that most of my troops were not in the right mentality to be fighting for a very long period of time. Many of them had become closely attached to our human Decepticon. Their focuses, unfortunately, were split between the fight that we needed to have here and the now stable human on the Nemesis.

I would admit, that the human had grown on me. Not to the point that the majority of my troops seemed to have attached themselves, but from the point that the human had first fallen through that grate to this point now, my view on this human had improved by leagues. Her strategies, while unusual, had led us to many advances over the Autobots.

Also, her ability to fight was coming along nicely, if the spar that I had with her was anything to make my basis on. While I had heard that the human was upset with her performance in that fight, I had been impressed. For a being that had only been online for a servo-full of stellars, she learned quickly. Of course, I had learned that our human Decepticon took what she viewed as failure seriously. I didn't correct her on this thinking because it was pushing her to become a more valuable asset.

Along with that, her ability to quickly learn from her mistakes made her a valuable asset to me. There was no time wasted in repeat lessons with her and she seemed to even be able to predict what might be taken as a mistake before she was placed in trouble for them.

However, as valuable as she had made herself, there was only so much time and supplies that we could use on her recovery. If she was not on a visible path to recovery by the time that our plans for this mine were complete, then I would have no choice but to order that she be unplugged from the machines that she was currently attached to. From the reports that Knockout and Joe were sending in, the actual resources being used to keep Lizzie in this state was staggering. We had not been prepared to deal with human injury on this level of complexity and damage. Of course, we were not even sure if our human would survive past the battle. True, she was stable now, but her body was still using a great deal of energy to keep the energon at bay.

I briefly came out of my thoughts on Lizzie as Optimus took a swing at my helm. I blocked the attack and parried with a few more of my own before returning to my thoughts.

However, my thoughts drifted from our human who was fighting for her survival to our plans for this mine. Since I knew that we were not going to be able to keep the Autobots at bay forever, given the torn processors of most of my troops, the only remaining course of action would be to blow this mine and try to take as many Autobots as we could with it. As expected, though, we would need to make sure that all of the energon would be exploded. I did not want to leave any for the Autobots since we were spending much of our valuable time defending it against them.

To do this, I had the drones setting the explosives against any of the major energon cores that were remaining. Once the explosions went off around them, then the explosions that those energon cores caused would explode the far off energon that was connected to the core by veins. However, this plan did take time and so I had to make sure that my Decepticons stayed focused on the fight that was in front of them.

Speaking of my troops, I sent an order to all of my main Decepticon troops to report in with their current locations, and this included Knockout. Knockout, of course, was on the Nemesis. However, I was surprised that both Soundwave and Airachnid were both on the ship as well. That was, of course, I was given a report of their injuries. Airachnid had suffered a large gash to her side that Knockout had just finished patching. She was to walk it off for a few clicks before she would be returned to the battle. Soundwave had just arrived on the Nemesis. Sentinel Major had taken my third in command by surprise as he was fighting Pitch and the Autobot had ended up cracking Soundwave's visor to the point where he was virtually blind on the battlefield.

The rest of my troops were still here, below the ground and holding back the Autobots as the drones set the charges. A positive notion about this situation was the fact that the Autobots seemed to be dis-unified as a fighting unit here on Earth. Perfect. While I knew that our strategy could not be the only factor that was causing this fall of the Autobot confidence in their own, I was almost certain that it was a part of it.

Soundwave had received a battle report from Hook early in the battle that, from speaking with the Autobot medic, he was able to learn that the Autobots believed that we were in possession of more than one human. That had not been my original plan when I had had Lizzie lead the mission to retrieve Breakdown and Vox from MECH. However, I was not going to curse this bonus. The Autobots would be even less likely to attack my ship, if they could find it, if they believed that I had multiple humans on the ship. They would have to split their forces on my ship, and given that I would have the home territory advantage on my ship, then they would just be placing themselves in a position that I could defeat them in.

...On second thought, given my current thought process, perhaps Lizzie had earned the right to fight for the rest of the solar for her life.

 **Airachnid's 1st P.O.V.**

Fragging glitch. When I got my servos around that two-wheeler's neck cables, I would make her pay. That slagging glitch Flamewar just had to interfere in a fight that was not hers to fight in. With the original plan between Astrotrain and myself, I was to be injured by Arcee and, since I knew my favorite target so well, then I had felt that there would have been no problem in getting hurt by the femme.

Yes, our plan did call for my becoming injured. I needed a reason to return to the Nemesis while the other Decepticons were still fighting. However, Flamewar had thrown a scraplet in that part of the plan. With her arrival, it had been harder to manipulate the fight to allow me to get hurt. Finally, when it seemed like it was taking too much time to entice a simple injury that would barely require my return to the Nemesis, I had opened myself up too much and Flamewar, the slagging femme that she was, had taken full advantage of the hole that I was leaving open to Arcee.

"When this is over, that two-wheeler will truly learn the meaning of pain," I growled as I slowly moved toward my quarters.

However, I would have to remain calm for now. Our plan was to take out the larger problem for the two of us, Lizzie. That slagging human had found a way to get under my gears more than any other opponent I had faced before. The bug had maneuvered her small frame and week processor into the ranks of the Decepticons and, what still bothered me was the fact that they were all just happily wrapped around the fleshbag's fingers. I could even see that, while he may not be fully aware of the situation, Lord Megatron was becoming wrapped around Lizzie's fingers as well.

After a long trek down the halls of the Nemesis, I finally arrived in my chambers. Inside there was the tool that would be used to finally take down the human. When I had heard the report that the annoying human had been infected by energon, I was hopeful that our plan might not have to be implemented. While I was not a fan of residing with the Decepticons, there were plenty of advantages that I could take advantage of on the ship still.

However, between the two of us, I knew that Astrotrain still had more trust around the others than I did. So, that made me the perfect instrument to bring about the human's end. Being removed from the Decepticons, and possibly hunted myself, would be worth the risk if meant that the human stain that was still on the Nemesis would be no more.

Once I grabbed a bot that I kept in a secret compartment I had found, I left my quarters and made my way to the auxiliary room to med bay. That was where the human was being kept. While it might be easier to just crush the human with my own servos, and that still sounded tempting, I knew that our plan promised the human the most pain that we could possibly place on her. That would more than makeup for the lack of feeling the human's pathetic life leave her small body in my own grasp.

Ever since I came to be on this ship, that fragging human had caused me nothing but trouble. The same, Astrotrain had told me, could be said for her. She pretended to have a unique way of viewing the situation around us on Earth, yet all I saw from the fragging human glitch was repeat tactics that processors greater than hers created. Then, this lump of meat has the bearings to try and act superior to me. I am a being that this human stain could never hope to become, and yet she tried this. If it wasn't so insulting it would be laughable.

As I finally walked into the auxiliary room, and my optics fell on the sickly human, I smirked. Yes, while the human had caused me great humiliation, that would all be redeemed for with this act. I would take out this human, and she would suffer for a long and terrible time...well to her it would feel like that at the least. From what was happening to her now, I had little doubt that our little addition to the human's condition would kill her in less than a cycle at the most.

When I finally was standing next to the human, and the equipment that was keeping her alive, I allowed one of my extended servos to touch the human's cheek. "You foolish fleshbag. I bet you could not imagine your prideful self in this position. I could crush you with my servos and take you out of this life in an instant." My extended servo pressed against the human's cheek and her red blood dripped from where I injured her. I leaned my helm close to the human's helm. "But, we have so much more planned for you."

Once I pulled away from the side of the human, I brought out the box that I had taken from my room before I opened it. A purple glow appeared from the box and I felt victory close in servo as I pulled out the syringe of the dark energon. It was almost ironic. Astrotrain and I were tested in the mine, and that test would provide us with this crucial element to defeat the human. If energon was currently causing chaos in her systems, then this dark energon should destroy her.

With the syringe in servo, I moved to inject the substance into the bags that were returning the blood to the human's body.

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 **Authoress: Well, since I banned everyone, I guess I'm just going to sit here and laugh at you all. *laughs***

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 **AN: And again happy birthday to DarkPyralis and sorry if this ends up posting late! The past week has been stressful but I hope this is on time.** **Here is the last chapter of season 1! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. We see that the way that the Autobots are translating the current fight might not necessarily match up to what the Decepticon plan truly is. Plus, add in Wheeljack questioning the Autobots even more now...well, this chapter is hiding a lot of interesting ideas...**

 **Of course, I would be remiss to forget to mention Airachnid's ending there. Will she get away with the plan that she has made with Astrotrain? We will find out as the next chapter begins season two. No spoilers coming from me on this point but I'll try to have another chapter up soon.**

 **Side note, if you all want to look at the poll on my profile, have some fun with it! Also, while you are on my profile, take a gander at my rules for birthday requests just in case you want one. Remember that is a sure way of getting a posted story that you like updated on a date that you will know.**

 **Now, since there will be no reveals of the names of the next chapters (since I am still hiding their names from you), I'll say that I would love to see all of my readers leave a review, even if just to say hello...though only between saying hi and leaving a review about my actual story please! =)**

 **Well, that's all for now. TTYL! *peeks into the turmoil in season 2***


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